Foreign affairs
Month: September 2015
Defence
Defence
Lithuania signs deal on purchasing German howitzers
Lithuania’s Armed Forces on Tuesday signed a contract on procuring PzH2000 self-propelled howitzers from the German Armed Forces. […]
Economy
Kaunas to introduce ‘pillow tax’
Guests staying in hotels and private apartments in Lithuania’s second-largest city of Kaunas will have to pay a EUR 0.5 “pillow tax” for every night spent as of January 1, 2016. […]
Uncategorized
Putin’s UN speech means Russia is back in the game
Vladimir Putin is back in the international arena. That is the significance of the Russian president’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly, says Lithuanian political scientist Gražvydas Jasutis. […]
Defence
Foreign affairs
West will not renounce Ukraine in exchange for Russia’s help with ISIS, Grybauskaitė’s adviser says
The West will not renounce its commitments to Ukraine in exchange for Russia‘s help in fighting the Islamic State, an adviser to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who’s attending UN events in New York, said on Tuesday. […]
Politics
Lithuanian parliament rejects president’s nomination for chief prosecutor
The Seimas of Lithuania on Tuesday rejected the nomination of Edita Dambrauskienė, 46, chairwoman of Kaišiadorys District Court, who was proposed by the president to the post of prosecutor general. Fifty MPs voted in favour of her candidacy, 49 were against and 19 abstained. […]
Uncategorized
Putin halves Lithuania’s population in US interview
Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed in a recent interview with US media that only 1,4 million people live in Lithuania, which is half of the Baltic country’s actual population. […]
Uncategorized
Russia should respect principles Putin extolled in UN speech, Lithuania’s Linkevičius says
Russia should respect those principles the country’s President Vladimir Putin mentioned in his speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius says. […]
Uncategorized
Lithuania concerned about safety of Belarus nuclear plant
With a Russian-made reactor to be delivered to the site of Belarus‘ Astravyets nuclear power plant at the end of this month as part of plans to launch the first unit in 2018, Lithuanian experts are concerned about the safety of the world’s “cheapest” nuclear facility, the daily Lietuvos Žinios reports. […]
Culture
Uncategorized
Lithuania’s representative to observe Savchenko trial in Russia
A Lithuanian diplomat will be sent to observe the trial of Nadiya Savchenko, a Ukrainian pilot and member of the country’s Verkhovna Rada, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday. […]
Defence
Russian reconnaissance aircraft mostly flew above Baltics last week
NATO fighter jets stationed in the Baltic states as part of the air policing mission performed four scrambles last week to intercept military aircraft of the Russian Federation, flying in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea. […]
Defence
Swiss and Belarusian inspectors to check Lithuania’s weaponry
Belarusian and Swiss military representatives will this week check the weaponry available in Lithuania, the Ministry of National Defence said. […]
Politics
No ‘inter-institutional coordination’ as Lithuania prepares for refugees, parliament speaker says
There a lack of inter-institutional cooperation in Lithuania as the Baltic country prepares to receive refugees, Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Loreta Graužinienė said on Monday after her visit to the Refugees Reception Centrė in Rukla, central Lithuania. […]
Defence
Lithuania must strengthen cooperation with Finland, foreign minister says
On 24 September, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland Timo Soini, who was visiting Lithuania, to discuss bilateral political and economic relations, regional cooperation and key issues on European agenda, including migration, the security situation in the region, relationship with Russia, the situation in Ukraine, cooperation in the fields of energy and transport, Lithuania’s MFA said. […]
Defence
52 Belgian soldiers arrive in Lithuania, 270 more expected
Fifty-two Belgian soldiers arrived in Lithuania on Monday, mainly logistics specialists who will prepare to host 270 more troops from Belgium and Luxembourg along with a few dozen pieces of military equipment arriving later this week. […]
Economy
Lithuanian snatches first iPhone 6s in New York
Sworn Apple aficionados often spend hours queuing at Apple stores before the launch of a new product. The new iPhone 6s, which hit the shelves on Friday, had buyers crowd all night to be the first ones to leave with the new gadget. The lucky first customer at the Apple store in Manhattan was a girl from Vilnius. […]