Politics
Lithuanian parliament passes 2015 budget second time
The Lithuanian parliament passed the state’s budget for 2015 for the second time on Thursday, with 79 votes in favour, 14 votes against and 34 abstentions. […]
Articles by BNS
Foreign affairs
Lithuanian PM hopes for effective CIA prison probe
Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has said he hopes prosecutors will investigate reports that a secret CIA detention site could have been operated in Lithuania in 2005-2006. […]
Society
Lithuanian court orders involuntary treatment for genocide convict
The Regional Court of Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city, has ordered involuntary treatment for a former Soviet security agent convicted in a genocide case. […]
Foreign affairs
Lithuanian prosecutors to ask US for additional data on alleged CIA prison
The Prosecutor’s General Office has said on Wednesday it will ask the United States government for additional information about secret detention and interrogation of suspected terrorists abroad. […]
Economy
Klapėda ranked Lithuania’s most economically free town
The Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda has been ranked as Lithuania’s number-one municipality in terms of economic freedom. The town gets the top spot in annual rankings for the fourth consecutive year. […]
Foreign affairs
Former president Adamkus says there were no CIA prisons in Lithuania
Lithuania’s former president Valdas Adamkus says he was assured by security officials that Lithuania did not host a secret CIA detention centre for suspected terrorists. […]
Society
Most Lithuanians do not report violations of their rights, survey shows
Absolute majority of Lithuanians (95 percent) who think their rights were violated did not turn anywhere about it, shows a poll carried out for the Human Rights Monitoring Institute in October. […]
Politics
Lithuanian foreign minister receives human rights award
The Vilnius-based Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI) presented its annual human rights award to Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius. The award is presented on the international Human Rights Day, 10 December. […]
Foreign affairs
President Grybauskaitė: Lithuania will have to accept responsibility, if CIA prison allegations prove correct
Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė has said on Wednesday that the reports on alleged CIA-operated prison in Lithuania will have to be investigated by the Prosecutor General‘s Office, and if the information proves correct, Lithuania will have to take responsibility. […]
Foreign affairs
Human rights advocates urge Lithuanian prosecutors to request full US Senate report on CIA prisons
Human rights activists on Wednesday urged Lithuanian prosecutors to turn to the United States with a request to provide its full report about overseas prisons of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), including one that allegedly operated in Lithuania. […]
Foreign affairs
US notified Lithuania in advance of CIA prison report, foreign minister says
The United States had notified Lithuania in advance of the publication of the Senate report about prisoner torturing performed by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in secret detention centres, including one possibly in Lithuania. […]
Foreign affairs
Lithuanian foreign minister: US Senate’s CIA report could trigger rise in terrorist activity
The US Senate’s recently-published report on the CIA detention and interrogation programme could trigger a rise in terrorist activity, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius says. […]
Politics
Lithuanian prosecutors want former presidential aide fined for leaking state secret
The Lithuanian Prosecutor General‘s Office asks that former presidential adviser Daiva Ulbinaitė be found guilty of leaking a state secret and abusing her powers and be imposed a fine of 32,500 litas (EUR 9,400), her lawyer Giedrius Danelius said. […]
Politics
Lithuanian parliament passes next year’s social insurance budget
The Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday adopted the 2015 budget for the state social insurance fund, Sodra, that provides for bringing sickness and unemployment benefits back to the pre-crisis level from January and raising pensions from July. […]
European Union
EU Commissioner Andriukaitis: EU countries ready for Ebola
All EU member states are capable of fighting the Ebola threat, Lithuanian EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis told BNS during his first visit to Vilnius as a European commissioner. […]
Global LT
Lithuanian government to set up Migration Information Centre
A Migration Information Centre will be established in Lithuania next year and it will provide information to repatriates, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said on Tuesday morning. […]
Energy
Lithuania to launch new shale gas tender early next year
Lithuania’s authorities are planning to launch a new shale gas exploration tender early next year after parliament last week approved new tax rates for unconventional hydrocarbons, Deputy Environment Minister Daiva Matonienė said on Tuesday. […]
Foreign affairs
Turkish president plans to visit Lithuania next year
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who is on an official visit to Turkey, has called for the development of bilateral economic relations between the two countries and said that her Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, plans to visit Lithuania with a business delegation next year. […]
Society
Lithuanian president: Civil and political will are best anti-corruption measures
Corruption is everyone’s personal enemy, and a principled position as well civil and political will can help fight it, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė says. […]
Economy