Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius met with Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Marc Perrin de Brichambaut. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly starts in Vilnius today. Secretary General noted that the OSCE goals – advancement of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law – were of great relevance today, with Europe and the world facing ever new security challenges.

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius met with members and Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Consultation Mission Catriona Purfield following their routine mission to Lithuania. IMF annually conducts consultations with each member country according to the IMF Agreement, assess the performance of the economy and submit macroeconomic policy recommendations to the respective governments.

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius continues meeting with top EU officials right before the start of the 1st working session of the European Council this afternoon. This morning the Prime Minister met with current President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering and European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Joaquín Almunia. In his conversation with the President of the European Parliament, Prime Minister A. Kubilius discussed the recent European Parliament election results and a resounding electoral success for Europe’s centre-right parties. Hans-Gert Pöttering told the Lithuanian Prime Minister that so far there was no broad alliance between European Parliament factions concerning the candidacy of current President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso (to ...

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius and his Baltic counterparts met with President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. The Brussels meeting resulted in signing the Memorandum of Understanding on the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan. The parties to the Memorandum recognise the need for the integration of the Baltic electricity and gas markets in the wider EU energy market and underpinning investments while addressing the key energy security interests.

Lithuania has successfully tapped international financial markets with a 500-million euro benchmark eurobond transaction due 2014, with an annual coupon of 9.375 percent. The issue was oversubscribed, with orders coming from a large number of accounts, including the US, Germany, the UK, and Scandinavia. The quick turnaround of this public placement and its five-year maturity both show that the global investment community is confident about Lithuania's prospects.

On Friday, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius took part in the 10th Baltic Economic Forum held in Riga. This is a regular annual event focussing on economic development in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. This time the Forum was held when all the three states have been suffering an economic downturn. In his opening speech at the Forum and later during the joint press conference with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius shared his vision on the harmonisation of the regulation of the Baltic economies with a view to bringing them out onto the map of world economies as a larger and more competitive unity with eight million people.

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has opened the World Forum for Direct Investment 2009 to be held in Vilnius for two days. The Forum, first time held in Vilnius, has gathered more than 150 international business leaders to discuss matters related with foreign direct investment and present development strategies for international corporations. Here is the opening address by Prime Minister Kubilius at the Forum:

In today’s press conference on the outcomes of the elections to the European Parliament, Andrius Kubilius, the Prime Minister and the leader of the party having gained the largest share of the votes, has expressed his appreciation to the voters for their support. The Prime Minister has noted that Lithuania is the only Baltic country where the leading governing party in the coalition earned the highest voter confidence amid the intense economic turmoil.