At the European Council meeting in Brussels, President Dalia Grybauskaite together with other EU leaders discussed topical external policy issues and the situation in Ukraine.

Parliament passed three resolutions on Thursday, calling on the Venzuelan authorities to withdraw "unfounded" charges against the opposition leader; condemning the arrest of human rights activist Dr Amin Mekki Medani in Sudan; and demanding the immediate release of anti-slavery activist Biram Dah Abeid in Mauritania.

Lithuania is going to open new visa centers in 7 foreign countries.

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevicius says the crash of the Russian rouble against the US Dollar to record lows should not be gloated over. According to the foreign minister, the financial crisis in Russia is a good moment for the country to change the course of its policy.

Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the brutal school attack in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar on 16 December. The Taliban movement in Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack that left more than hundred dead. The number of victims continues to grow.

Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, and Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, issued the following statement today:

The European Union welcomes the outcome of the United Nations climate conference in Lima as a step forward on the road to a global climate deal in Paris next year. The conference agreed on two deliverables, the Lima Call for Climate Action and the draft elements text for the 2015 Agreement. As countries come forward with proposed emissions reduction targets in the coming months, the Lima Call requires all countries to describe their proposed target in a clear, transparent and understandable way. This will enable us to quantify our proposed contributions. And in order to asses whether these contributions are fair and ambitious and the collective effort puts us on track to keep global warming below the 2 degrees centigrade, the UNFCCC secretariat will publish the contributions and prepare a synthesis report. The EU stands ready to help in this process and engage in constructive discussions with other countries about their proposed targets.

Moscow has begun lobbying what it sees as sympathetic EU capitals – Budapest, Nicosia, and Rome – to veto renewal of Russia sanctions in 2015.

On 11 December, Lithuania's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrius Krivas met with Eric Rubin, US Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, who is visiting Lithuania. The officials discussed bilateral relations, cooperation with Eastern European countries and international security.

Some 6,000 workers made redundant in France, Greece, Italy and Poland should receive EU aid worth €35.5 million to help them find or create jobs, recommended the Budgets Committee on Thursday. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid still has to be approved by Parliament as a whole and the Council of Ministers.