President Gitanas Nausėda received letters of credence from Ambassador Kai Kaarelson of Estonia, Ole Terje Horpestado of Norway and Arja Inkeri Makkonen of Finland.

The EU continues to work with Member States to tackle the coronavirus pandemic on all fronts. Today, 500.000 additional coronavirus testing kits have been provided to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The test kits were delivered by an EU Humanitarian Air Bridge flight and are part of a €10 million immediate support package to the African Union (AU) by the German Government in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In total, almost 1.4 million tests for the extraction and the detection of the virus will be made available to African Union countries.

The European Commission has approved an Irish loan guarantee scheme to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework.

“Having taken into consideration the information acquired by our institutions and partners, we may conclude that ‘Hezbollah’ uses terrorist means that pose threat to the security of a significant number of countries, including Lithuania. We stand together with the United States of America, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, as well as other countries that had reached the same conclusion”, – Mr. Linas Linkevičius, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, said in a statement. “We appreciate the successful cooperation between the Lithuanian and Israeli national security agencies. We are thankful to these institutions for their significant work in helping ensure the safety of our citizens”, – said Mr. Linkevičius.

As of yesterday, 12 August, some of Cambodia's typical export products such as garments, footwear and travel goods are subject to the European Union's customs duties. The EU's decision to partially withdraw Cambodia's duty-free quota-free access to the EU market is now effective. The preferential treatment enjoyed by Cambodia under “Everything But Arms” (EBA) – the EU's trade arrangement for Least Developed Countries – is now temporarily lifted due to serious and systematic concerns related to human rights ascertained in the country. The EU enforces this measure while staying open to engage with Cambodia on the necessary reforms.

The European Commission has approved a German aid scheme to support airports in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved partially based on Article 107(2)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and partially under the State aid Temporary Framework.

President Gitanas Nausėda had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius. The President and the Minister discussed the assessment of the political situation in Belarus in the run-up to the presidential elections on 9 August.

On August 6 Vice Minister of National Defence Eimutis Misiūnas met with Commander of the Italian Air Force Combat Forces Command Major General Francesco Vestito to discuss bilateral cooperation, security situation in the region, and other relevant matters.

"We share the shock and sadness of the people of Beirut following the deadly explosion that has taken many lives and left many more injured. Our condolences go to all those that have lost loved ones.

EU exports to Vietnam will be taxed less as of tomorrow, 1 August. This is the immediate effect of the entry into force of the EU-Vietnam trade agreement that will ultimately scrap duties on 99% of all goods traded between the two sides. Doing business in Vietnam will also become easier for European companies: they will now be able to invest and pitch for government contracts with equal chances to their local competitors. Under the new agreement, the economic benefits go hand in hand with guarantees of respect for labour rights, environment protection and the Paris Agreement on climate, through strong, legally binding and enforceable provisions on sustainable development.