A traditional parliamentary event – the bicycle ride called Take Your Own Bike to Europe – took place in Vilnius on 25 May 2013. This time the event was to mark the upcoming Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The tradition to organise bicycle rides comes from May 2004 when a ride was held for the first time to celebrate Lithuania’s accession to the EU.

On Saturday, over 200 enthusiastic cyclists, including Algirdas Sysas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, Jonas Milerius, Secretary General of the Seimas, staff members of the Office of the Seimas and other state institutions, as well as other residents of the capital city of Vilnius took part in the bicycle ride the route of which stretched from the Buildings of the Seimas to the Europe Park.

The participants of the bicycle ride, dressed up in festive T-shirts in the colours of the Lithuanian national flag, peddled their bikes to the Europe Park where they were greeted with cheerful melodies played by the Representative Wind-Instrument Orchestra of the Ministry of the Interior and pleasant surprises such as quizzes, prizes and a festive cake.

After the finish in the Europe Park, Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, Philomena Murnaghan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ireland, and Michael Efstratios Daratzikis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Greece, symbolically planted the oak trees of the Presidency Trio.

A year ago, the three countries (the Presidency Trio) signed the declaration whereby the countries agreed to work together in the spirit of mutual cooperation aiming to efficiently coordinate the preparation of the parliamentary dimension of the Presidency of the Council of the EU. That was how these three countries agreed to take part and assist each other in the fulfilment of the parliamentary programmes of their Presidencies.

Public Relations Unit, tel: +370 5 239 6666