On 4 July, Thursday, the solemn sitting of the Seimas to mark the start of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union will take place in the Hall of the Act of 11 March. Chaired by Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, the sitting will open at 9.30 am.

Addresses and speeches will be made by Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania; Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas; Seán Barrett, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann; Ene Ergma, President of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia; Josip Leko, Speaker of the Croatian Parliament; Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia; Bogdan Borusewicz, Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland; Othmar Karas, Vice-President of the European Parliament, and Petras Auštrevičius, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas responsible for organising the events of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council.

The event will also be attended by Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius and other members of the Cabinet, former heads of state, Constitutional Court President Kęstutis Urbaitis, Seimas members, Signatories to the Independence Act, Lithuanian members of the European Parliament, heads of foreign diplomatic representations in Lithuania, delegation of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union of the German Bundestag; Eugeniusz Tomasz Grzeszczak, Deputy Marshal of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, and other honoured guests.

At 11.20 am, the signing of the Vilnius Declaration by the Speakers of Parliaments of Ireland, Lithuania and Greece is scheduled in the Hall of the Act of 11 March. The Declaration on Cooperation among the Houses of Parliaments of Ireland, Lithuania and Greece in support of the preparation and fulfilment of the parliamentary dimension of the Presidencies of these three European Union Member States will be signed by Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas, Athanassios Papaioannou, Secretary General of the Hellenic Parliament, and Seán Barrett, Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.

The solemn sitting of the Seimas will be broadcast live on the Seimas website http://www3.lrs.lt/pls/inter/w2008_home.dabarseime, website of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and television channel Seimas Live. The sitting and the flag-hoisting ceremony will also be aired live on the Lithuanian Radio and Television.

Please find more information on the solemn and festive events of 4 July at the Seimas on the website of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union or Seimas website.

Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]