Belarus has long time ago become one of the major Lithuanian policy priorities. The country is economically relevant and at the same time politically problematic partner. Importance of Belarus is determined by the dependence of the Klaipėda Seaport on Belarusian cargo transit; last year it accounted for 30,5 percent of the total cargo operations (handling). Yet, Alexander Lukashenko‘s regime which is still considered to be the last Europe‘s dictatorship hampers the improvement of the dialogue between the countries.   

In March a Japanese state-owned oil and gas company announced it had successfully extracted gas from methane hydrate deposits from under the seabed. Why is it important? Huge amount of gas extracted from the above sources determine radical changes in the global energy map since the Earth is rich with these resources.

At the beginning of April German Chancellor Angela Merkel spent her vacation in the island close to Naples. She was visited by the Campania region governor Stefano Caldoro who afterwards posted a video on his website where he urged her to look at the difficult areas including youth unemployment rates 10 times those of Germany. It is not the first time when Germany is criticised by South European countries complaining that they have to apply strict austerity measures in exchange for financial assistance.  

The visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gülo to Lithuania at the beginning of April was important not only for the bilateral relations but also with respect to the approaching Lithuania‘s EU presidency. Some time ago Lithuania has expressed its clear position on Turkey‘s membership in the EU.

A silent demographic revolution in China is determined by two main factors: the fertility rate  (35-40 years ago it was approximately 6 children per woman and now is only 1,5-1,6 children per woman) and the increased life expectancy (6 decades ago it was only about 40 years, today about 73 years; and 80 years are forecasted by 2050). The major difference of these demographic processes in China is their unprecedented speed.

Today quite a lot of attention is given to the geopolitical association BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Although this is neither a real political or economic association nor an international organisation, BRICS is  increasingly being treated as an actually existing international policy entity.  

At the beginning of November 2012, general Sergey Shoigu, former emergency situations minister and Governor of the Moscow region, was appointed the minister of defence of Russian Federation. Russia‘s former defence minister Anatoly Serdyukov has become a witness in the case related to over a multi-million dollar military property fraud case. (...) Was A.Serdyukov really so bad? Is S.Shoigu the only person capable of improving the situation?   

According to the representative of the Russian opposition Leonid Gozman, Russia may not like the Baltic States and be an uncomfortable neighbour for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, however is inoffensive for them, because it has finally accepted the fact of their independence.

It is easier to start business in Estonia than in Latvia and Lithuania, therefore more new firms are established in our country than in other Baltic States – refer to a new study SEB analysts and entrepreneurs.

President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso received in Brussels representatives of the Lithuanian Government and promised to help the country to pass on to Euro in 2015.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius and the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, signed in Brussels a joint plan on combating the illicit trafficking in nuclear and radioactive materials, reported in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

This was stated by the Prime Minister of Lithuania Algirdas Butkevicius, speaking about the powers of negotiators with the Russian company "Gazprom".

Consul of the Consulate General of the Republic of Estonia in St. Petersburg Franek Persidski was declared persona non grata in the Russian Federation. Persidski became an undesirable person in Russia on the basis of parity - a little earlier Russians were not allowed into Estonia.

Polish President directed to finance the development of the Polish missile defence system.