Lithuanian parliament marks 15th anniversary of NATO membership

VILNIUS - The Lithuanian parliament is marking on Thursday 15 years since the country joined NATO. 

NATO member states' ambassadors and defense attaches and representatives of Lithuania's Defense Ministry and its Armed Forces have been invited to attend the events to mark the anniversary, the Seimas said. 

The parliament will hold a discussion on the Alliance's significance to Lithuania's statehood, with speakers including NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Tacan Ildem and Lieutenant Colonel Keith Alexander Moody of the NATO Force Integration Unit in Vilnius. 

A ceremony of hoisting the flags of Lithuania and NATO in Independence Square will take place outside the parliament building at noon.

Lithuania became a full-fledged member of the Alliance after depositing the instruments of ratification of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington on March 29, 2004.