On 18 December in Brussels, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius, passing over the presidency of the EU Council to the Deputy Minister for European Affairs of Greece Dimitris Kourkoulu, stressed that one of the major achievements of Lithuania's Presidency is the consolidation of the long term programme and the budget for 2014, as well as a stronger Eastern Partnership, - reported the correspondent of IA REGNUM.

The newly appointed Ambassador of Latvia to Armenia Elita Gavele (residence in Tbilisi) presented on 11 December her credentials to the President of the country Serzh Sargsyan.

On 12 December debates will be held at the TallinnUniversity between the ambassadors of the European Union member states – participants in the Programme “Eastern Partnership”, reported to IA REGNUM on 11 December at the EuropeanCollege of the TartuUniversity, one of the organizers of the event along with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.

Duty squad of four Russian Su-27 fighters landed in the Brest region of Belarus, near the border with Lithuania and Poland.

The Prime Minister of Moldova Jurie Leanca believes that for the subsequent signing of the 2014 Association Agreement with the EU the authorities should seriously analyze the internal and external risks. The key issues among them are the unity of the ruling coalition and dialogue with external partners.

The Minister of Justice of Ukraine Olena Lukash said that Ukraine will definitely sign the Association Agreement with the European Union.

Last weekend many Russian citizens arrived to Moscow, the capital of Russia, including people of a pretty rare profession: employees of various international organizations, such as the OSCE, the UN, the Council of Europe, as well as of various structures involved in supporting the activities of the NATO and the European Union.

In the case of Ukraine's accession to the European Union, Russia may introduce protective economic measures. This was announced on 20 November by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speaking at a press conference following the meeting of the CIS Council of the Heads of Governments in Strelna (Leningrad region). "No one knows, when and what measures might be applied, just because we do not know what is going to happen, we do not know how the flows of goods will run, and we do not know yet, whether we will need to use any means to an end," – noted he.

The story of the associated membership of Ukraine in the EU with the approach of the fatal summit in Vilnius is getting overgrown with new details. According to TheWallStreetJournal referring to the aware of the details European officials, Brussels is ready to conclude agreements with Kiev, allowing to start deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine from Europe. According to the authors of the article, this may facilitate the economic convergence of the country with the EU.

On 18 November Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite held a meeting with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki–moon making his first visit to Lithuania, reported the IA REGNUM correspondent referring to the press service of the President of Lithuania. Preparation of Lithuania for work in one of the main UN bodies - the Security Council, other relevant contemporary challenges faced by the international security, and other topical issues on the UN agenda, were discussed at the meeting.

The Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite opened on 4 November in Vilnius the Conference "International mechanisms to ensure the safety of nuclear power". As REGNUM correspondent was informed at the press service of the President, the conference brought together experts from 20 countries, including representatives from the European Commission and the IAEA.

On 31 October Presidents of the Baltic States held an annual meeting in Birini castle in Latvia.

“Россия - онлайн”

According to the political analyst Paul Nuss, who is also the Chairman of the Civic Committee for National Salvation, Russia would exert strong pressure on Ukraine at the Summit in Vilnius and will not allow signing the Association Agreement with the EU "without a fight". At the time of signing the Russian side will do its utmost to destabilize Ukraine by creating an artificial crisis in the country.

Kremlin is making the agenda on important global issues, and again started commanding its neighbours. "How the capitals of major European countries are the reacting to Putin's newly acquired confidence on the international arena? Are they responding in unison, or, on the contrary, out of sync?" - The Guardian asked the reviewers of the leading European newspapers. In France, a similar collection of opinions is published by LeMonde.

One of the main reasons that forced Russia to go for economic sanctions against Lithuania is its support to Ukraine in the course of the European integration on the eve of the Vilnius Summit.

For effective complex defence of Latvia, the establishment of a permanent division of the National Armed Forces has started in Latgale, reported the official website of the Ministry of Defence.

On 13 January a concert "Together to the victory" was held in Lithuania, where the audience decided to support Ukraine's defence and donated 110 thousand Euros.

Alexander Lukashenko on 9 January signed a decree № 8 "On the establishment of visa-free entry and exit of foreign nationals." The document establishes visa-free entry to Belarus for a period not exceeding 5 days at the entrance through the checkpoint "National Airport Minsk" for citizens of 80 countries, - reported the press service of the President of Belarus.