Tomas Venclova, dissident and one of the most recognizable Lithuanians in the world, was honored by the government of Lithuanian capital city. He was born in Vilnius, but has chosen to be a citizen of the world and was awarded with the honorable citizenship of Vilnius. Nice expression of respect, however, was overshadowed by the attitude of countrymen of the famous poet and citizen of Vilnius.

On June 13 Political Director of the Ministry of National Defence Dr. Vaidotas Urbelis underlined while attending an EU ministerial meeting on defence in Berlin that fundamental solutions on the future of the EU Battlegroups (BGs) were to be found ahead of the European Council discussion coming up in December

Some 120 million Europeans are at risk of poverty or social exclusion - a situation which has been made worse by the economic and financial crisis.

Last week, on 30-31st May, a traditional visit before Lithuania's acquisition of the European Union's presidency was paid by the President of the European Parliament (EP) Martin Schulz, EU Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding and the heads of political groups, including the chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group – Mr Martin Callanan.

Considered once as the left-wing radical, philosopher Arvydas Juozaitis has metamorphosed. From the leftist and internationalist suddenly he became a national extremist. Probably even Songaila and Landsbergis look with envy at Juozaitis’s intransigence and belligerence towards Poland.

Approx. 120 members of the Lithuanian Armed Forces assigned to a joint military unit with counterparts from the United Kingdom, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden have been certified for the European Union Battlegroup (EUBG) commitment in the second half of 2013 upon completion of the certification exercise on 16 May. If necessary, the EUBG led by the UK will be ready to deploy to complete tasks ranging from conflict prevention to humanitarian and disaster relief within 5 to 10 days.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, at Georgetown University. The honorary doctorate was conferred to the President for "political leadership, truth, transparency and responsibility."