President Dalia Grybauskaitė offered condolences to President Miloš Zeman of the Czech Republic and President Andrzej Duda of Poland over the explosion at a Czech coal mine, which killed more than a dozen of Czech and Polish miners.

Neris Germanas, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, met with Yacoub Yousef Al Hosani, Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 18 December.

The European Commission has found that Gibraltar's corporate tax exemption regime for interest and royalties, as well as five tax rulings, are illegal under EU State aid rules. The beneficiaries now have to return unpaid taxes of around €100 million to Gibraltar.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania allocated EUR 30 thousand in humanitarian aid to Ukraine which will be transferred to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This contribution is another step in implementing the Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine initiated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) that amounts to USD 187 million in 2018, however, has been implemented by only 38 per cent so far.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Norbert Kartmann, President of the State Parliament of Hesse, Reinhard Bütikofer, Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Industry and Energy of the European Parliament, Jürgen Hardt, Member of the Bundestag, and Gabriele Gylyte-Hein, Chair of the Lithuanian German Forum.

The EU Commission should suspend all EU funding to the business empire linked to the Czech PM and recover funds paid out irregularly, MEPs demanded on Thursday.

MEPs urge Iran to release jailed Sakharov laureate Nasrin Sotoudeh, and deplore state attacks on human rights defenders and LGTBI people in Egypt and Tanzania.

The European Parliament gave its consent to the EU’s trade agreement with Japan, the largest bilateral trade deal ever negotiated by the EU.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended her heartfelt condolences to French President Emmanuel Macron over the loss of lives and injuries in a shooting attack at Christmas Market in Strasbourg.

EU countries should be able to issue humanitarian visas at embassies and consulates abroad, so that people seeking protection can access Europe without risking their lives.