Defence
US Army Europe commander to come to Lithuania
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the US Army commander in Europe, is coming to Lithuania on Thursday to discuss the security situation in the region. […]
Year: 2017
Society
PM wants law-enforcement, tax bodies step up fight against shadow economy
Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis wants the country’s tax and law-enforcement authorities to step up their fight against the shadow economy. […]
Society
Vilnius approves EUR 1 mln for basketball, football clubs
The City Council of Vilnius decided on Wednesday to allocate 500,000 euros to the Lietuvos Rytas basketball club and the Žalgiris football club each. […]
Politics
PM to seek support for his government’s program from all political groups
With the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) considering pulling out of the ruling coalition with the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LFGU), Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis says that he will seek support for his government’s program from all political groups in the parliament. […]
Defence
US Army Europe commander to visit Lithuania
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, the US Army commander in Europe, will start a two-day visit to Lithuania on Thursday. […]
CORPORATE
Zapad exercise scenario revealed – Lithuania as a peculiar named aggressor
“Weishnoria”, “Lubenia” and “Besbaria”. Such are the odd names of the made-up aggressor countries in the released Russian-Belarussian military exercise Zapad scenario. While the Kremlin and Minsk are ardently assuring that this is only a […]
Society
President initiates vocational training overhaul
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė is putting forward amendments aimed at overhauling the country’s vocational education and training system. […]
History
The Chmelnitsky Uprising and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In early 1648, a Cossack uprising led by Bogdan Chmelnitsky broke out in Polish-ruled Ukraine, which the country’s leaders did little to suppress. As was usual in the first half of the 17th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania did not keep a standing army, only garrison units in Smolensk and Daugpilis. Whenever the threat of war loomed, it had to form a new army from scratch each time, so the private armies of the nobles were always the first to go into war, and were only later joined by conscripts. […]
CORPORATE
Why is it that so many Lithuanians won’t rush to their country’s defence?
A few months ago the chairman of the Security Committee of the Seimas, Vytautas Bakas, shared the results of a survey which indicated that just about half of the people living in Lithuania see Russia […]
CORPORATE
“Farmers” set the stage for V. Uspaskich and A. Guoga
Voters are turning from the “Farmers” and beginning to seek new “messiahs”. This is a niche for Viktor Uspaskich and Antanas Guoga to appear or perhaps some other rising populist movement, states political scientist Vincentas […]
Society
Sabonis, Alekna, Meilutytė top list of Lithuania’s most influential sports figures
Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania’s basketball legend who now heads the country’s Basketball Federation, Virgilijus Alekna, a former discus thrower and now a lawmaker, and Rūta Meilutyte, an Olympic gold-winning swimmer, are ranked as Lithuania’s most influential sports figures, Delfi.lt reported on Wednesday. […]
Defence
Second Lithuanian team returns from EU’s military operation in Mediterranean
A team of Lithuanian troops are returning on Wednesday from the EU-led operation Sophia aimed at curbing human and arms smuggling activity in the Mediterranean Sea, the Defense Ministry said. […]
Defence
US fighter jets take over patrolling of Baltic skies
The United States is taking over the Baltic air policing mission two weeks ahead of Zapad 2017 (West), a large-scale military exercise to be held jointly by Russia and Belarus. […]
Foreign affairs
New Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty transmitter launched in Lithuania
A new radio transmitter was formally launched in Lithuania on Tuesday for rebroadcasting the Russian and Belarusian-language services of the US Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). […]
Foreign affairs
Seimas speaker meets with US congressmen
Viktoras Pranckietis, the speaker of the Seimas, underlined the importance of maintaining sanctions against Russia as he met with four Republican members of the US Congress on Tuesday. […]
Foreign affairs
Portuguese president meets with his country’s troops in Lithuania
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, accompanied by Lithuanian and Portuguese defense ministers and chiefs of defense, on Tuesday met with Portuguese rotational troops stationed in Tauragė, in western Lithuania. […]
Foreign affairs
Defence
Seven fighters land in Lithuania as US boosts air policing mission ahead of Zapad drills (Updated)
The United States has boosted the Baltic air policing mission as Russia and Belarus prepare to hold their joint large-scale military exercise Zapad (West) next month. […]
Politics
PM says he backs benefits for Landsbergis, but not president’s status
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis thinks that Lithuania’s first post-Soviet leader Vytautas Landsbergis should be granted benefits that a former head of state is entitled to by law, but not the status of a president. […]
CORPORATE
R. Juknevičienė responds to R. Karbauskis comments on the status of V. Landsbergis
After the Farmer Greens leader Ramūnas Karbauskis stated he doubts whether most of his group’s members would support Seimas Speaker Viktoras Pranckietis‘ initiative over granting former Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas chairman Vytautas Landsbergis the […]