President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations on behalf of the people of Lithuania to U.S. President Barack Obama on the occasion of Independence Day.

Strasbourg (2 July) – Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle met with prominent Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski in Strasbourg on Wednesday. Mr Bialiatski who is President of the Viasna Human Rights Centre of Belarus was released from prison 20 months ahead of schedule on 21 June after 1052 days of arbitrary detention in harsh conditions, including serving periods of solitary confinement.

"If Europe was to take a selfie today, it would be a tired, resigned image," said Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi in a debate with MEPs on his country's priorities for the Council presidency for the next six months. He said European leaders should act with conviction and determination to keep Europe in the lead on global issues. The debate on 2 July touched upon a broad range of issues, from the Italian contribution to Europe through the ages to the place of Europe in a fast-changing world.

MEPs re-elected Martin Schulz as President of the European Parliament on Tuesday morning for another two and a half year term. The 58-year old German MEP will lead Parliament until January 2017. He won 409 out of 612 valid votes cast in the first ballot.

The European Commission approved on 29 June 2014 a liquidity support scheme for Bulgarian banks as being compatible with EU state aid rules. In its assessment, it concluded that the state aid implied by the liquidity measure is proportionate and commensurate with the need to ensure sufficient liquidity in the banking sector in the particular circumstances.

On 25 June in Brussels, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius and NATO foreign ministers discussed the future of NATO's open door policy, development possibilities of relations with Russia and further strengthening the ability of allied forces to face an increasing number of threats.

The new Parliament will kick off its next term with the election of the president, 14 vice-presidents and five quaestors during the first plenary session on 1-3 July. Find out more about what they do, who is eligible to stand and how they are elected by reading our Q&A.

The European Union signed Association Agreements with Georgia and Moldova and the Free Trade Agreement, which is an integral part of the Association Agreement, with Ukraine. The signature process with respect to the political provisions of the agreement was completed by the EU and Ukraine in March.

On Tuesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius met with Philip M. Breedlove, NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, to discuss NATO's topical issues.

Statehood Day is a holiday that occurs on every 25 June in Slovenia to commemorate the country's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Although the formal declaration of independence did not come until 26 June 1991, Statehood Day is considered to be June 25 since that was the date on which the initial acts regarding independence were passed and Slovenia became independent. Slovenia's declaration jumpstarted the Ten-Day War with Yugoslavia, which it eventually won.