Linkevicius to replace Grybauskaite at London conference

Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Linas Linkevicius, will replace President Dalia Grybauskaite at a conference on humanitarian at to Syria in London. 

The meeting will take place on February 4-5, 2016.

"At the London international [meeting] on assistance to Syria, Lithuania is represented by the minister of foreign affairs," the President's Office told BNS Lithuania.

The conference, which focuses on support to Syria and the region, will bring together officials of more than 70 states, the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). 

Other international organisations and the non-governmental sector will also join to discuss joint actions of the international community to solve the humanitarian crisis caused by the Syrian conflict.

Since 2011, the armed conflict in Syria has claimed more than 260,000 lives, leaving 13,5 million persons in need of humanitarian assistance. 

About 6,5 million people have been displaced in Syria, in addition to 4,6 million living in neighbouring countries.