President Schulz, President Tusk and Prime Minister Rutte met this morning in Brussels upon the invitation of European Commission President Juncker. They discussed the outcome of the United Kingdom referendum and made the following joint statement:

On 23 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius received the outgoing Ambassador of Greece to Lithuania Iraklis Asteriadis. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister thanked the Ambassador for his personal contribution to the development of friendly bilateral relations and stressed that Greece was an important partner for Lithuania in the European Union and NATO.

On 20 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius took part in the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg. The Council discussed the future integrated EU policy for the Arctic, the EU comprehensive approach to security and development in the Sahel region, the ongoing political crisis in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Middle East peace process, and visa liberalisation in the context of EU-Georgia relations.

The European Union should check the veracity of reports that Turkish border guards are shooting and killing Syrians who are trying to flee their country, said the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday. MEPs also asked the European Commission to assess whether the EU-Turkey deal to manage migration and refugee flows can continue to apply in these circumstances.

World Refugee Day is held every year on 20 June in tribute to the people forced to flee their country due to war, conflicts or poverty. Last year alone more than one million people fled to the EU by crossing the Mediterranean. Of these 3,3771 are reported missing or dead. Most of the refugees arriving in Europe - 38% - came from Syria. Check out our infographic to see how the situation evolved in each member state and the EU as a whole from 2011 to 2015.

On 17 June, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the Swedish Minister for Culture and Democracy Alice Bah Kuhnke, who came to Vilnius to take part in human rights events and to express support for the Baltic Pride March for Equality on 18 June.

Whilst France is indeed grappling with a difficult security situation, it needs to find adequate long-term solutions, because the terrorist threat is likely to last, argued most MEPs in a Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee debate on Thursday with Ambassador and France’s Permanent representative to the EU Pierre Sellal.

On 15 June, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Neris Germanas met with the new Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Yousif Eis Hassan Eisa AlSabri, who is accredited to Lithuania from Warsaw. In the meeting, the officials discussed bilateral political and economic cooperation, and the U.A.E officials’ planned visits to Lithuania.

The situation continues to be dire for Palestinians: 95% of Palestine refugees in Syria are dependent on humanitarian aid and 65% of young Gazans are unemployed. Pierre Krähenbühl, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), discussed their plight with Parliament's foreign affairs and development committees on 13 June, calling on the international community to work towards a credible political solution for the problems of the Middle East.

Support for resilience and to promote state and peace building in Somalia expected to be one of the key announcements during the European Development Days today