Turkey’s EU accession talks should be suspended if proposed changes to the constitution go ahead, as these go against EU membership criteria, warned MEPs on Thursday.
MEPs are concerned about Turkey backsliding in the rule of law, human rights, media freedom, and the fight against corruption. They condemn the repeatedly declared support for the reintroduction of the death penalty by the Turkish President, which would put into question Turkey’s membership in the Council of Europe and lead to an immediate end of EU accession talks.

On 4 July, two young South Africans, selected to participate in the Transparency International School of Integrity which takes place in Vilnius on 10-16 July, were congratulated at the Lithuanian Embassy in Pretoria.

Mr. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, and Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, met in Brussels today for the 24th Summit between the European Union (EU) and Japan and issued the following statement:

President Dalia Grybauskaitė attends a meeting between the leaders of the region and U.S. President Donald Trump. The main aim of the meeting, attended by twelve heads of state of the Eastern and Central Europe, is to inform the U.S. President about threats and challenges faced by the region.

MEPs vote on plans to suspend accession talks with Turkey should controversial changes to its constitution go ahead. We talked to report author Kati Piri.

On Thursday, July 6, President Dalia Grybauskaitė will attend the Three Seas Initiative summit in Warsaw.

The fight against corporate tax avoidance, a possible end to the accession talks with Turkey and a bilateral agreement with Cuba are all on the plenary agenda for this week.

On 1 July, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius congratulated Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday extended Moscow's embargo on food products from the West until the end of 2018, continuing its policy of retaliation for sanctions over Ukraine.

European Commission reports on progress of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey: a further €714 million in humanitarian assistance committed and €50 million more contracted in skills training.