De eerste bezoeken van het Litouws voorzitterschap (en)

Dalia Grybauskaitė i, President of the Republic of Lithuania which is taking over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July, is leaving for working visits to Croatia, France and Germany on Sunday, June 30. The first four visits over the next half year - historic for Lithuania - will be devoted to presenting the priorities and most important tasks of the Lithuanian Presidency i to European institutions and leaders of the EU member states.

On the eve of Lithuania's EU Presidency, in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, Dalia Grybauskaitė will meet - for the first time as the head of the presiding state - with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy i to discuss the key meetings of EU national leaders and critical decisions.

At midnight on June 30-July 1, the President together with European leaders will attend Croatia's EU accession ceremony. According to the President, it is symbolic that the start of the Lithuanian Presidency coincides with the 28th member state joining the Community. Open Europe is one of Lithuania's EU Presidency priorities.

On July 2, the President will make a working visit to Paris. She will meet with French President François Hollande i to discuss key decisions in the focus of special interest of all member states during Lithuania's EU Presidency. Economic growth, financial stability, energy security, and secure neighborhood - these are the goals common to Lithuania, France and Europe as a whole.

July 3 in Strasbourg marks the official working start of the Lithuanian Presidency. Dalia Grybauskaitė will outline Lithuania's EU Presidency priorities to the European Parliament and answer questions from members of parliament. The President will also take part in a press conference to answer questions from European journalists. Both events will be broadcast live on http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/schedule, Europe by Satelite TV and Lithuanian Television.

After launching Lithuania's EU Presidency at the European Parliament, Dalia Grybauskaitė will travel to Berlin. The President, at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel i - together with EC President José Manuel Barroso i, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Parliament President Martin Schulz i and other EU leaders - will attend a high level conference on fighting youth unemployment. Among the other participants of the conference will be social security ministers and heads of employment agencies from all EU member states. Youth employment has been placed high on Lithuania's Presidency agenda.

On July 4-5, the President will launch events in Vilnius to celebrate the start of the Lithuanian EU Presidency.