The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Amazon's use of sensitive data from independent retailers who sell on its marketplace is in breach of EU competition rules.

On 15 July, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius participated in the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels. Ministers discussed migration, the situation in Iraq, Iran, the Central African Republic, and Moldova.

With 383 votes in favour, the European Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen President of the next European Commission in a secret ballot on 16 July.

The European Union calls on all States to uphold the integrity of the rules-based international system with effective multilateralism as a key principle. This is indispensable for maintaining international peace and security. We areconcerned that the international disarmament and non-proliferation regime is under great strain.

Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis met with the United States Ambassador to Lithuania Anne Hall to thank her for her efforts in strengthening relations between Lithuania and the United States.

The election of the new president of the European Commission will be the highlight of the upcoming plenary session in Strasbourg on 15-18 July.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė received letters of credence from Apostolic Nuncio Petar Rajič. The Nuncio also conveyed the wishes of Pope Francis to the outgoing President.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the Lithuanian ambassadors and heads of the diplomatic missions to the international organizations. Over ninety extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassadors of Lithuania, heads of consular missions and Ministry of Foreign Affairs gathered for a traditional annual meeting.

The EU has increased its support to help mitigate the impact of Russia's destabilising actions in the Sea of Azov region. During the 21st EU-Ukraine Summit, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, signed with Stepan Kubiv, First Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, new additional support measures worth €10 million to support local economic diversification and small businesses, local civil society and citizens' involvement in decision-making, improvement of community security and public safety.

To underpin the European Union's political commitment and kick-start the implementation of the new EU Central Asia Strategy, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, at the EU-Central Asia Ministerial meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, today presented a set of EU funded regional programmes. These programmes will support the environment, climate action, sustainable consumption and production, energy, gender equality, counter-terrorism, and education.