European Union
Month: September 2014
Uncategorized
Estonia hires Pussy Riot’s lawyers to defend abducted Security Police officer
Estonia decided to hire lawyers Mark Feigin and Nikolai Polozov, who have defended members of the controversial Russian punk band Pussy Riot, to represent Estonian Security Police (KaPo) official Eston Kohver, who is claimed to have been abducted on Friday on the Estonian territory and taken to Moscow, Public Broadcasting reports. […]
Foreign affairs
Israel’s foreign minister in Vilnius: Nuclear proliferation in Middle East a “horror film”
Israel‘s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who paid a working visit to Lithuania, said the nuclear programme of Iran was a threat to the whole world and compared the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East to a horror film. […]
Opinion
Opinion: Tomaševski’s path from Polish identity to Putin‘s “Russian World”
You cannot even imagine how painful it is for a real dzūkas [south-east Lithuanian] to see reports about people in Žemaitija [west Lithuania] picking mushrooms by hundreds and asking what to do with such wealth, while our pine forests, growing on the mainland sand dunes, are dry and bare from the summer heat. Only on the day of St. Bartholomew were we blessed with some all-day rain; after that rain it will be finally possible to go mushroom hunting. […]
European Union
Lithuanian EC candidate: Food safety will be crucial in context of political events in Eastern Europe
Lithuania’s former health minister Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, who was on Wednesday officially confirmed as candidate for the health and food safety portfolio in the European Commission, says that the field is very important amid the Russian attempts to politicize food safety issues and the EU negotiations with the United States on a trade agreement. […]
Energy
Foreign affairs
Lithuanian defence minister says EU should send humanitarian aid and military equipment to Ukraine
The European Union should provide Ukraine with both humanitarian aid and military equipment, Lithuanian Defence Minister Juozas Olekas said in an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Milan this week. […]
Economy
Lithuanian prime minister: Euro adoption has had no effect on prices
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has emphasised that statistic data do not give grounds for concern over the effects of euro adoption on prices. […]
European Union
Lithuania’s Andriukaitis officially proposed as EU commissioner for health and food safety
Lithuania’s former health minister Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis has been officially proposed as European commissioner for health and food safety affairs, EC President Jean-Claude Juncker announced at a news conference on Wednesday. […]
Global LT
Humanitarian mission to Ukraine
The history of the partisan resistance is an integral part of Lithuania’s resistance to Soviet-Russia’s aggression and still speaks to the imagination of most Lithuanians. The present situation of Russian aggression and warfare in Eastern Ukraine and the forceful annexation of Crimea have brought back dreadful memories to many in Lithuania. […]
Politics
Lithuanian Seimas opposition to pursue deputy speaker seat
Chair of the Liberal Movement parliamentary group Eligijus Masiulis has announced that the Seimas Opposition will pursue a seat of deputy parliament speaker. […]
Foreign affairs
New ambassador of Spain presents letters of credence to Lithuanian president
President Dalia Grybauskaitė accepted letters of credence from Spain‘s Ambassador to Lithuania, Emilio Fernandez-Castano y Diaz-Caneja, the presidential press service informs. […]
Uncategorized
Lithuanian MP: Russia’s policies in Ukraine are in dead-end
Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Affairs, social democrat Gediminas Kirkilas, believes that Russia‘s policies in relation to Ukraine are in a dead-end, while further military action would not bring victories but only increase tension and bring new sanctions. […]
Politics
Lithuanian president opens parliament’s session: We can and must help people feel economic growth
President Dalia Grybauskaitė congratulated members of Parliament with the start of the autumn session on Wednesday. As Lithuania and Europe experience a tense time, the president wished for a focused, responsible and wise session. […]
Economy
Lithuania eyes budget surplus in 2016
The Lithuanian government aims to achieve a budget surplus in 2016, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius says. […]
Society
Drunk police officer kills two in car crash in north Lithuania
A drunk police officer killed a man and a woman in a car crash in Panevėžys, northern Lithuania, on Tuesday evening, leaving one more man seriously injured. […]
Politics
Lithuanian parliament revokes approval for conservative MP’s trip to Russia
The Lithuanian parliament’s board on Wednesday cancelled its approval to let MP Egidijus Vareikis of the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (conservatives) on a trip to Russia. […]
Foreign affairs
Legal expert: Russia indicates that it questions Lithuania’s independence
Attempts by Russia‘s law enforcement agencies to re-open criminal prosecution against Lithuanian nationals who avoided military service in the Soviet army in 1990-1991 has no legal basis, says international law expert Erika Leonaitė. […]
Economy
Lithuania to be most affected by Russia’s import ban, says EBRD
Lithuania will likely feel the most severe effects of Russia‘s ban on food imports from the European Union as the country’s ratio of food exports to Russia to GDP is the highest in the bloc, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said. […]