Uncategorized
Month: January 2015
Foreign affairs
Ukrainian Academic Council names President Grybauskaitė person of the year
The Ukrainian Supreme Academic Council called Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė Person of the Year for her solid and consistent support to Ukraine‘s independence. […]
Politics
Over third of Lithuanian MPs suggest one more commission for alleged CIA prison
More than a third of Lithuanian parliamentarians suggest setting up a parliamentary commission to investigate allegations about a secret US detention facility for suspected terrorists that operated in Lithuania a decade ago. […]
Uncategorized
European Union
No need for Schengen restrictions following Paris attacks, Lithuanian representative says
There should be no restrictions on free movement of person in the Schengen Area following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. However, some countries might in some cases step up control of their national borders, Lithuanian Permanent Representatives to the EU Raimundas Karoblis says. […]
Foreign affairs
Mikhail Khodorkovsky among guest speakers at forum in Lithuania
Snow Meeting, a traditional informal discussion club, organised by the Foreign Ministry of Lithuania since 2008, will be held on 15-16 January in Trakai and Vilnius, the ministry said in a press release. […]
Uncategorized
EU ambassador to Moscow Ušackas: Putin will stay on
Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Russia, Vygaudas Ušackas, has met with Lithuanian businesspeople and said that Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be expected to leave leadership any time soon. Ušackas said 2015 will be an uncertain year in relations with Russia and anything can happen. […]
European Union
EU’s 315-billion-euro investment plan may benefit Lithuania, ambassador says
The European Commission’s 315-billion-euro investment plan may benefit Lithuania, but the scheme of its financing still involves many uncertainties, Lithuania’s permanent representative to the European Union (EU) has said. […]
Uncategorized
Lithuanian-Polish tensions are gift to Putin’s Russia, Michnik says
Ethnic tension between Lithuania and Poland is a great gift to Vladimir Putin‘s Russia, says former Polish dissident Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief of the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. Michnik was awarded the Freedom Prize 2014 in the Lithuanian Seimas on Tuesday as Lithuania marks the Freedom Defenders’ Day. […]
Newsweek: Putin makes his first move in race to control the Arctic
In November, the Russian K-550 nuclear ballistic submarine Alexander Nevsky, submerged in the Barents Sea between Russia and the North Pole, successfully launched a missile that travelled its prescribed course to Kamchatka in Russia’s far east. The Alexander Nevsky thus joins two other Russian nuclear submarines, which have, in the course of the autumn, conducted successful ballistic missile tests. […]
Culture
Decision on Soviet sculptures in central Vilnius postponed
A special council that held a meeting at Lithuania’s Department of Cultural Heritage on Tuesday asked specialists to evaluate artistic value of Soviet-era statues on the Green Bridge in central Vilnius. […]
Society
More discrimination complaints lodged by men than women in Lithuania
59 percent of complaints received by the Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson of Lithuania last year came from men, figures show, marking the fourth consecutive year when more complaints are received from men than women. […]
Society
Politics
Lithuania’s former foreign minister: Time will come when Moscow will apologize for Soviet occupation
Soon the time will come when Russia will issue an official apology for Soviet occupation from the stand of the Lithuanian Seimas, according to Petras Vaitiekūnas, Lithuania’s former ambassador to Ukraine and one-time foreign minister. He said this at a solemn parliamentary sitting on Tuesday to mark the 24th anniversary of the 13 January 1991 events. […]
Energy
PM Butkevičius: American companies show interest in Lithuanian shale gas
A possibility to explore and extract shale gas interests several energy companies from the United States, says Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius. […]
Society
Lithuanians light candles in tribute to Freedom Defenders
The unity of the Lithuanian nation preserved its freedom that each person must strengthen and cherish, President Dalia Grybauskaitė said on Tuesday. […]
European Union
Russia pans Lithuania’s counter-propaganda initiative in EU
A Russian official has criticized suggestions by several European Union nations, including Lithuania, to form a consistent pan-EU effort to counter Russia’s propaganda campaign. […]
Society
Lithuania marks 24th anniversary of Freedom Defenders’ Day
Lithuania marks the 24th anniversary of the Freedom Defenders’ Day on Tuesday, commemorating victims of the Soviet aggression in 1991. […]
Foreign affairs
Lithuania’s deputy foreign minister discusses fight against anti-Semitism with Jewish organisations
On 9 January, Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mantvydas Bekešius visited Brussels, where he met with Rabbi Menachem Margolin, director of the European Jewish Association, and Henri Gutman, president of the Jewish Laic Community Centre, Lithuania’s MFA said. […]
Economy
EC report: Euro changeover in Lithuania reaching final stage
Lithuania adopted the euro on 1 January 2015, thus becoming the 19th member of the euro area. With the dual circulation period ending on 15 January, a crucial part of the changeover will be completed this week, the European Commission said in a report. […]