Foreign fighters as well as “lone wolves” training and preparing terrorist attacks on European soil will be criminalised under new EU-rules to fight terrorism backed on Monday.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations on behalf of the Lithuanian people and one her own behalf to President Sauli Niinistö on the occasion of the 99th anniversary of Finland’s independence.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President-elect Alexander Van der Bellen of Austria on his victory and wished him continued success in performing the important and responsible duties of the presidential office.

The European Union and Georgia held the 3rd meeting of the Association Council on 2 December 2016. The Council is the highest formal body established under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement to supervise the implementation of the Agreement and to discuss issues of mutual interest. This meeting took place after the entry into force of the Association Agreement on 1 July 2016 that marked the start of its full-scale implementation.

On 9 December, 2016 on the occasion of Human Rights Day and as part of the EU initiative “#EU4HumanRights", the Ministry of Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania is organizing a public discussion – “The role of freedom of expression in promotion of human rights”.

Trust in the US took a hit following revelations of mass surveillance by Edward Snowden, but an agreement on data protection adopted by MEPs today should help to restore it. The deal known as the umbrella agreement covers the transfer of all personal data exchanged across the Atlantic when dealing with criminal offences, including terrorism. Green German MEP Jan Albrecht, who was responsible for steering the deal through Parliament", said it would ensure “high standards and high protection”.

On 28 November in Vilnius, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy. Linkevičius voiced Lithuania’s strong support for Ukraine and its reform efforts.

More than 10 years after EU-Turkey accession talks started, MEPs adopted a resolution on 24 November calling for the negotiations to be suspended until the Turkish government ended its disproportionate and repressive response to July's failed coup. Ankara replied by threatening to let thousands of migrants pass through to Europe. Greek EPP member Manolis Kefalogiannis, head of Parliament’s delegation to Turkey, commented: “We are entering a new phase in EU-Turkey relations”.

On 28 November 2016, the Council extended the mandate of the operation EUNAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta until 31 December 2018. The Council also allocated to the operation a budget of EUR 11.064 million from the so-called common costs.

The United States' massive support for production of the Boeing 777X is in breach of international trade rules, according to today's WTO panel report.