President Metsola opened the 15-18 January plenary session in Strasbourg with the following announcements.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė met with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who is visiting Lithuania, at the Government House. The meeting was also attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Lithuania, Dmytro Kuleba and Gabrielius Landsbergis.

On Wednesday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who has arrived in Lithuania. The Lithuanian and Ukrainian leaders discussed the course of the war in Ukraine, the security and defense situation in the region, as well as military assistance to Ukraine.

Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas, had a video call with Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, a new Marshal of the Polish Senate. The Speaker of the Seimas underlined that Poland was Lithuania’s strategic ally and that both countries shared a common historical past, close people-to-people ties, common challenges and an identical approach to threats.

At its autumn session, the Seimas achieved a milestone by adopting a crucial strategic documents, namely, the National Progress Strategy Lithuania 2050. This ground-breaking document reinforces the foundations of the state and establishes ways for ensuring national security, attaining demographic and social stability, rejuvenating the economy, preserving the environment, and promoting equitable development across all regions of the country. Lithuania 2050 will also help to restructure public administration by making it flexible, smart and inclusive and strengthening trust among citizens, government and civic organisations.

Simonas Šatūnas, a career diplomat, will take up the post of Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania from 2024. He will replace the current incumbent, Jovita Neliupšienė, who has been appointed the Head of the European Union (EU) Mission to the United States.

The Ministry of National Defence is looking to enhance Lithuania’s air defence capabilities with a new mobile short-range air defence system. The capability is planned to be procured for the Lithuanian Armed Forces in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence of Sweden.

MEPs and national governments reached a long-sought agreement to revamp the EU’s asylum and migration legislation.

Early Wednesday morning, the first train of the new Vilnius-Riga route set off from Vilnius Railway Station. The new railway connection was introduced by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Minister of Transport and Communications, Marius Skuodis. The Prime Minister later met with Latvia’s Prime Minister, Evika Silina to discuss regional security, support for Ukraine in countering Russia’s armed aggression, and the progress in the regional infrastructure projects.