Big day arrives for Lithuania's EU Presidency

  • 2013-07-01
  • From wire reports

VILNIUS - Lithuania is out of the starting block on its taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) on July 1, reports ELTA. The country will hold this role for the next six months. For Lithuania, commanding this position is a first.

Lithuania’s Presidency starts with Lithuania’s representation of the priorities for the European Parliament and the visit of the European Commission to Vilnius. On July 5, the members of the European Commission will visit Vilnius all together for the first time. This meeting will be the first meeting of such kind, because the members of the European Commission have never been in Lithuania.

From the planned 200 events of Lithuania’s Presidency, more than 20 events will be high-level meetings, 162 at the expert level and 12 at parliamentary events. It is planned that 34 leaders of the countries and governments, more than 800 ministers, about 10,000 members of delegations and 1,500 representatives of the press will be participating in the high-level meetings alone.

One of the most essential events of Lithuania’s Presidency will be the Eastern Partnership Summit in November.