As the largest event of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union - Vilnius Summit - is beginning, President Dalia Grybauskaitė opened the Conference "Eastern Partnership Reality Check: Political Challenges and Future Agenda for Civil Society". The discussion aims for encouraging people of Eastern Partnership countries to be more active citizens and build the future of their nations.

An informal agreement on new rules to achieve the 2020 CO2 emission target of 95g/km for new cars was reached by EP and member state negotiators on Tuesday afternoon. The file had to be reopened after EU ministers failed to endorse a previous informal deal on it with Parliament.

It was on November 28, 1893, that the women of New Zealand became the first in the world to vote in a national election. To mark this milestone, the Women in Parliaments (WIP) Global Forum meets on 27-29 November 2013 in Brussels, hosted by the European Parliament. High level politicians from all around the world, Nobel Prize winners, activists and opinion leaders will discuss how female leadership can bring change to politics and society. You can follow it all live from our website.

European Parliament delegation chairman to Warsaw climate conference Matthias Groote (S&D, DE) cautiously welcomed the conclusion of the UNFCCC COP19 meeting on Saturday, where parties defined the path to a future 2015 climate agreement. He regretted the watered-down wording defining the steps to Paris, condition for keeping developing countries on board.

On November 24–25, the meeting of the chairpersons of the Committee on Environmental Protection and the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities, Macro-regional strategies: development and outlooks, will take place at the Seimas (the Seimas Conference Hall, II palace). Representatives of the parliaments of EU Member States and candidate countries and the European Parliament will participate. Loreta Graužinienė, the Speaker of the Seimas, will welcome the participants. The Minister of Finance, Rimantas Šadžius, will present the results of the EUSBSR Annual Forum and Valentinas Mazuronis, Minister of the Environment, will talk about the EUSBSR's relation to other forms of cooperation in the Baltic Sea region's environmental protection activities.

Lithuania Post makes its contribution to the project Pirk dramblį (Buy an Elephant) and invites all citizens of Lithuania to support inhabitants of the Lithuanian Zoo by obtaining special postcards. Part of funds raised will be transferred to the Zoo of Lithuania.

November 23, 24 and 25 will be national days of mourning in Latvia, the government decided at an emergency meeting yesterday.

Fifty two people have been killed and dozens of others injured after the roof of a large store collapsed in the Latvian capital, according to the Fire Department. Rescuers continue to search for at least 30 people who may still be trapped in the rubble.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended condolences to President Andris Bērziņš of Latvia over the tragic collapse of the supermarket roof in Riga, which left 16 people dead and many more injured.

From 19 December this year the Belarusian airline BelAvia will launch direct flights from Vilnius International Airport (VIA) to Minsk. The flights to the capital of Belarus will be operated 8 times a week by aircraft CRJ-100/200 with 50 passenger seats. Tickets are already available in Lithuanian travel agencies and online.