President Dalia Grybauskaitė watched NATO military exercise Iron Sword 2015 at the General Silvestras Žukauskas Training Area with more than 2.5 thousand troops from 9 NATO member states and Georgia taking part. This year, it is the largest field training exercise in Lithuania, during which local and allied troops train and prepare for collective defense under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. The exercise is also planned for next year to test the preparedness of conscripts.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations on behalf of the Lithuanian people and on her own behalf to President Raimonds Vējonis of the Republic of Latvia on the occasion of Latvian Independence Day.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė is attending the Leaders' Forum of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

With Russia set to introduce a levy on heavy vehicles from Lithuania for using its roads, Lithuania's authorities are planning to charge Russian trucking companies as well, the country's deputy transport minister said on November 13th.

Statistics Lithuania informs that, based on the data from the Building Permits and State Construction Supervision Information System the Republic of Lithuania (IS) Infostatyba, in III quarter 2015, against III quarter 2014, the number of building permits issued decreased by 9.8%, of which for the construction of residential buildings – by 12.7%.

Lithuania will not allow Belarus, which is building a nuclear power facility close to the border, to use its Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant (PSP) as a reserve capacity.

Statistics Lithuania informs that, according to the Labour Force Survey data, in III quarter 2015, the unemployment rate stood at 8.3%. In III quarter 2015, against II quarter 2015, the unemployment rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points, against III quarter 2014 – by 0.8 percentage points.

The Embassy of Lithuania in China on November 11th officially inaugurated the VFS Lithuania Visa Application Center in Beijing, which will allow extending the collection of visa applications.

Kauno Tiltai (Kaunas Bridges), the Baltics' largest transport infrastructure construction company that is part of Poland's Trakcja PRKiI, is set to enter Belarus' market after opening a representative office in Minsk in July amid plans to bid for road construction contracts.

On November 10-11 Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas will take part in Defence Ministers meeting in NB8 (Nordic-Baltic Eight) and the Northern Group formats in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting Ministers will address the security situation in the Baltic Region, Nordic-Baltic cooperation, strengthening of regional cooperation between NATO and NATO partners, and participation in international operations.