Spring Session of the NATO PA will take place in Vilnius

Press release, 18 May 2026 (News ● Photos ● Broadcasts and videos)

The Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) will be held in the buildings of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania from 29 May to 1 June 2026. Special emphasis will be placed on strengthening of collective defence, support for Ukraine, resilience to hybrid threats, protection of strategic resources by increasing defence spending, investment in partnerships in strategically important regions, development of critical technology systems for defence, and fast-tracking NATO’s defence innovation and rapid adoption.

Šarūnas Birutis, Head of the Seimas Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, notes that the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Vilnius is of great importance to Lithuania as it reaffirms the role of our country as an active and credible member of the transatlantic community. ‘This is not only a high-level political event but also a clear signal that NATO’s parliamentary diplomacy takes place in close proximity to regions where security issues are not merely theoretical’, Mr Birutis says.

In his view, the Session contributes to shaping NATO’s future at parliamentary level. ‘It is here, in particular, that the representatives of national parliaments coordinate their political approaches, strengthen public support for NATO decisions, and send out a clear message about the unity of the Alliance. The parliamentary dimension is essential for NATO’s decisions to have a solid democratic basis,’ he stresses.

According to Mr Birutis, the Spring Session will mainly focus on collective defence, long-term support for Ukraine, sustainability of defence spending, societal resilience, and the role of innovation and new technologies in the defence sector. ‘These topics reflect the challenges facing the Alliance as a whole today and point out to the areas in need for consistent long-term decisions’, he underlined.

The Session will bring together nearly 300 parliamentarians from 32 NATO member countries and about 80 representatives from 22 partner countries and international organisations.

The meetings of the NATO PA committees and political groups are scheduled for 30–31 May 2026. On Saturday, 28 May 2026, the Economics and Security Committee will sit in the Plenary Chamber of the Seimas, the Political Committee will gather in the Hall of the Act of 11 March, and the Science and Technology Committee will meet in the Conference Hall. A meeting of the Ukraine–NATO Interparliamentary Council will also take place on Saturday in the Plenary Chamber of the Seimas. 

On Sunday, 31 May 2026, the Committee on Democracy and Security will sit in the Plenary Chamber of the Seimas and the Defence and Security Committee will meet in the Hall of the Act of 11 March, respectively.

On Monday, 1 June 2026, the NATO PA will convene for the Plenary Session. Welcome addresses will be delivered by Marcos Perestrello, President of the NATO PA; Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania; Juozas Olekas, Speaker of the Seimas; Inga Ruginienė, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania; Radmila Shekerinska, NATO Deputy Secretary General; Andrius Kubilius, Member of the European Commission for Defence and Space; and other officials.

The Session is planned to conclude with the adoption of a declaration.

The meetings of the Committees and the Plenary Session will be streamed live on the Seimas website and YouTube channel Atviras Seimas (Open Seimas). Photos from all the events will be published on the Seimas Flickr account and will be free for use provided they bear the following indication of the source: Photo by Olga Posaškova, Viktorija Chorna, Ūla Liškevičiūtė, or Lina Žižliauskaitė.

Please find the detailed PROGRAMME (EN).

INFORMATION ON THE WORK OF MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES AT NATO PA EVENTS

Seimas website subpage with information on the NATO PA Spring Session

NATO PA website (EN) 

For more information on the work of journalists, please contact

Ms Agnė Radžiūtė, tel. (0 5) 209 6210, el. p. [email protected] or

Ms Justė Radzevičiūtė-Laugalienė, mob. +370 612 00 663, e-mail: [email protected].

The NATO PA is an interparliamentary organisation that brings together parliamentarians from NATO member countries and partner countries outside the Alliance to discuss key political, security, and defence issues in the Euro-Atlantic region. The Assembly is led by the Standing Committee, which is composed of the heads of each delegation, the President of the Assembly, the Vice‑Presidents, the Treasurer, and the Secretary General.

The NATO PA is an independent organisation and operates separately from NATO. However, the two organizations work closely, with NATO considering and responding to all recommendations and resolutions adopted by the Assembly.

The NATO PA holds two sessions each year, namely a Spring Session and an Annual Session in the autumn. Each year, the sessions are organised by a different country. Lithuania last hosted the NATO PA Spring Session in 2022, when it was urgently relocated from Kyiv to Vilnius following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 209 6132, e-mail: [email protected]