On 15 February in Canberra, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Darius Skusevičius held a meeting with the Deputy Secretary at Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia Justin Brown. Skusevičius called on finalising bilateral agreements on social security and the Lithuanian-Australian working holiday program for young people.

The Commission proposes to give €104 million from the Solidarity Fund to four EU Member States that were hit by natural disasters in 2017.

On 13 February in Stockholm, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Margot Wallström discussed bilateral relations and regional security.

“The achievements of Lithuanian scientists in the fields of life sciences and lasers are known and appreciated in the world. Hopefully, with representatives of the Lithuanian Laser and Engineering Technologies cluster (LITEK) we can not only introduce them in New Zealand, but also establish new partnerships,” said the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Darius Skusevičius, who met with New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau and the Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Jeff Langley on 12 February in Wellington.

The EU should add Venezuela’s President, his deputy and military chiefs to the EU sanctions list and recognise its elections only if free and fair, said MEPs on Thursday 8 February.

To stem the impact of a reduction in US funding, Parliament is calling on the EU to mobilise additional finance for the UN agency for Palestine refugees.

On Sunday 11 February, a Russian passenger plane crashed near Moscow after taking off from Domodedovo Airport on route to Orsk.

The European Parliament should shrink from 751 to 705 MEPs when the UK leaves the EU, whilst leaving room for possible new countries joining in the future.

MEPs have adopted legislation enabling the European Investment Bank to lend an additional €5.3 billion to projects outside the EU.

An agreement boosting VAT cooperation between the EU and Norway was signed in Sofia on 6 February 2018.