President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė took off for New York to attend the 65th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė took off for New York to attend the 65th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The President will join presidents, heads of governments and foreign affairs ministers of other UN Member States for the most important part of the session, the general debate. The key topic of the session is the promotion of the role of the United Nations in addressing global issues. The President is going to make an address in the debate, in which she will draw attention to environmental problems in the Baltic Sea and talk about the states' shared responsibility in reducing poverty and combating discrimination.

During her visit to New York, the President will take the opportunity to attend panel discussion "Women as a Critical Force in Democratic Governance" hosted by the Community of Democracies (currently under the Lithuanian Presidency) and the Council of Women Leaders. Many other women leaders will take part in the discussion: Finland's President Tarja Halonen, Liberia's President Ellen J. Sirleaf, Chile's former President Michelle Bachelet, New Zealand's former Prime Minister Helen Clark, European Commission's Vice President Catherine Ashton, and other prominent personalities. President Dalia Grybauskaitė will make an address there, too.

While in New York, the President also plans to meet with Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili and attend lunch hosted by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.