As stated by the EU in the Council Conclusions of May 2018, the presidential elections of last May in Venezuela were neither free, nor fair. Its outcome lacked any credibility as the electoral process did not ensure the necessary guarantees for inclusive and democratic elections.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė received letters of credence from Ambassador Gökhan Turan of Turkey.

On 10-11 January, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania is organizing the 12th Snow Meeting. The informal meeting will bring together Lithuanian and foreign security policy experts to discuss major challenges facing the transatlantic community today and responses to them.

The European Commission plans to prolong for two years seven sets of State aid rules, otherwise expiring in 2020. The Commission has also launched today an evaluation of those rules and of other State aid rules to assess whether to further prolong them or possibly update them in the future.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo ordered the ambassador representing the European Union to leave the country. Nothing can justify this arbitrary act.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė is to visit Switzerland, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, the USA, Italy, the Vatican, Japan, and Belgium during the first half of this year. The visits to other countries are also planned.

New rules to strengthen the Schengen Information System (SIS) – proposed by the Commission in December 2016 and adopted earlier this year – was entered into force on 28 December 2018.

On 17–18 December, the Lithuanian delegation headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Linas Linkevičius, participated in the High-Level Forum EU-Africa in Vienna. The Forum, held by the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was devoted to the promotion of cooperation in innovation and digitalisation.

Elections, future of Europe, Brexit... the New Year starts with a busy agenda for the European Parliament.

On 21 December 2018, the Council prolonged the economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until 31 July 2019.