March 27 next week, the President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus meets with the President of the Republic of Latvia Valdis Zatlers and the President of the Republic of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves, for a traditional meeting of leaders of the Baltic States held in a different country every time. Shortly later in the day, the Baltic leaders will be joined by the President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczynski.

The meeting of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Presidents to take place in the “Aušra” Museum in Šiauliai will be devoted to the issues of energy security, eastern neighbourhood, the upcoming NATO Summit in Strasbourg, and the US and EU Summit to be held on 5 April in Prague.

The meeting will be followed by a joint press conference of the Baltic leaders.

The same day, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the membership in NATO, the Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Polish Presidents will visit the Mėnaičiai Village, where, in a homestead, the Council of Lithuania’s Liberation Movement signed a Declaration of Independence on 16 February 1949, to lay flowers at the memorial dedicated to the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Here, the four Presidents will meet with fighters for Lithuania’s freedom – partisans and guardians of historical memory and the environment, and will inspect the exposition of photos and documents.

Later, the Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Polish Presidents will go to the Armed Air Force Aviation Base in Šiauliai, to watch the presentation of NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission. After the presentation, a media briefing of the four Presidents is planned.

Then the venue will be moved to the territory of NATO Rapid Response Force, where the state leaders will watch the demonstration of capacities of NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission and fighter-jets.

President Adamkus comes back to Vilnius in the evening, the same day.