On March 10 Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius and Roberto Viola, Director General of DG CONNECT (Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content and Technology) at the European Commission, had a virtual meeting on the Lithuanian and European initiatives in the area of cybersecurity and especially, elimination of technology from unreliable manufacturers and the European Commission Directive on measures for high common level of cybersecurity across the EU. It was the first bilateral meeting of the two officials.

The Ministry of National Defence has taken up to lead the discussion on the arising implementation difficulties and potential constructive solutions in a priority project of the National Defence System – provision of the Vilkas Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) to the Lithuanian Armed Forces at top level. Today, March 5, a Ministry of National Defence-initiated meeting took place with top executives of the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR) which mediates the Vilkas Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) procurement project, the IFV manufacturer consortium ARTEC GmbH, and one of the manufacturers Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann (KMW). Representatives of both sides discussed the progress made on the project, IFV delivery timeline and technical shortfall identification.

Mayor of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, has made a daring promise to host an open air discotheque if Lithuania wins the Eurovision Song Contest this year. The city aims to invite both the visitors and the residents to celebrate and dance together by drawing inspiration from the Lithuanian entry The Roop’s song ‟Discoteque.”

President Gitanas Nausėda welcomes the decision of the Swedish government to authorize seabed survey works necessary for building the Harmony Link interconnection – a submarine power cable between Lithuania and Poland.

Kaunas strengthens preventive measures against COVID-19 – the scope of preventive tests is increasing. Staff of institutions working directly with residents and employees of large companies are invited to register for free PCR tests at Kaunas mobile testing sites.

The Parliament is discussing a carbon levy on imported goods to stop companies moving outside the EU to avoid emissions standards, a practice known as carbon leakage.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day I would like to wish all the best to all our women.

When the pandemic hit the world, countries focussed on providing public health services, foreign intelligence services adapted information gathering techniques, but major threats facing our country remained the same, they are: repressive regime of the Kremlin that takes no account of the position of the international community and is apt to showcase military power; the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenko that has been faced with an existential threat from within and uses aggressive rhetoric against Lithuania, and its Astravets Nuclear Power Plant that has been put into operation despite security concerns.

As of 10 March, all passengers arriving or returning to Lithuania from abroad will be required to present a negative COVID-19 disease (coronavirus infection) test result obtained not earlier than 3 days before the arrival. This requirement applies to all modes of transport on international routes. This decision was adopted by the Government.

The population of Lithuania have confidence in the Lithuanian Armed Forces and are favourable to it, they have a very positive view on the presence of NATO allies in the country and welcome the increase of the national defence budget, shows a public opinion poll carried out by request of the Ministry of National Defence in December 2020 by Spinter Research, market and public opinion research company.