Politics
Prime minister wants interior minister to stay in post
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said on the LRT TV programme Savaitė that he would do everything to keep Interior Minister Saulius Skvernelis in his position. […]
Articles by Lithuania Tribune
Politics
Police officers express support for interior minister in his feud with parliament speaker
Lithuania‘s police officers have expressed their support for Interior Minister Saulius Skvernelis who handed his letter of resignation to the prime minister on Friday, following criticism by Parliament Speaker Loreta Graužinienė and President Dalia Grybauskaitė. The Lithuanian Department of the International Police Association and the National Association of Officers‘ Trade Unions of Lithuania have distributed statements declaring support for Mr. Skvernelis. […]
Foreign affairs
President Grybauskaitė: Lithuania will not be in coalition against Islamic State with Russia
President Dalia Grybauskaitė says that Lithuania would not be willing to join any coalition against the Islamic State that would include Russia as long as Moscow engages in aggression against Ukraine and Georgia. […]
Politics
Lithuanian minister of interior resigns
Lithuanian Minister of the Interior Saulius Skvernelis handed his letter of resignation to the prime minister on Friday afternoon, the ministry has informed. […]
European Union
Baltic presidents: No additional refugee commitments without external border protection
The presidents of Lithuania and Latvia say the two countries will not agree to accepting more refugee quotas unless the European Union takes simultaneous measures to secure the EU’s external borders. […]
Economy
Lithuanian dairy producers one step closer to exporting to China
The Lithuanian Agriculture Ministry, the Lithuanian State Food and Veterinary Service and China‘s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine have signed a protocol requirements for exporting Lithuanian dairy products to China. […]
Society
Massive manhunt operation in Vilnius after detainee grabs police Kalashnikov and runs
An extraordinary chase operation was held in Vilnius in Thursday evening. Around 3,000 police officers were searching for Igor Molotkov, a detainee who managed to grab a Kalashnikov rifle from the police and run. After five hours of manhunt, the fugitive was arrested near the Railway Station, on Palesos street. […]
Politics
Lithuanian MEPs will risk their seats when running for national parliament
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has adopted amendments to election laws that will prevent members of the European Parliament, municipal councils and town mayors from running for parliament without risking their mandates. […]
Defence
Global LT
Lithuanians born abroad to be allowed dual citizenship
The Lithuanian parliament has endorsed a bill allowing Lithuanians who are born abroad to retain dual citizenship. […]
Politics
Lithuanian institutions demand extra funding to address terrorism threats
Reacting to the terrorist attacks in France, Lithuania’s Parliamentary National Security and Defence Committee has requested additional funding for the State Security Department, the Lithuanian Police Anti-Terrorist Operations Unit, Aras, and the State Border Guard Service. The committee requests to designate 14.4 million euro to these institutions in next year’s budget. […]
Economy
Seimas speaker not worried about budget warnings from EC
Lithuania’s draft budget for 2016 allows for conservative optimism, says Loreta Graužinienė, speaker of the Seimas. According to the parliament’s leader, there is no risk that budget spending would exceed income in 2016 more than projected. […]
Lithuanian airports losing race for regional domination to Riga
Direct air transport effect on Lithuania‘s economy in 2013 reached 86 million euro, or 0.25 percent of GDP. However, it is only the tip of the iceberg, since the total sum of direct, indirect, induced effects and the broader economic benefits from air transport effect in Lithuania would be 870 million euro, or 2.5 percent of GDP. […]
Energy
Lithuania will be first recipient of US gas in Europe
Lithuania will be the first country in Europe to receive a shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, sources confirm. […]
Society
Energy
Lithuanian parliament endorses new LNG terminal financing model
The Lithuanian parliament approved the new LNG terminal financing model on Tuesday, as the old model would have resulted in higher heating prices next year. […]
Economy
Lithuania’s central bank proposes to cap charges for basic banking services
The Bank of Lithuania has drafted a list of private banking services that it proposes should be made more accessible. If the proposal is endorsed by parliament, commercial banks will have to provide basic services like debit card administration, cash withdrawals and money transfers in the EEA to their clients at a fixed charge. […]
Global LT
Charity ball in London raises GBP 20,000 for youth helpline in Lithuania
A Lithuanian charity ball in London celebrated the quarter-century anniversary of Lithuania’s independence and raised funds to be donated for suicide prevention. […]
Economy
EU Commission: Lithuania’s budget at risk of exceeding deficit targets
The European Commission published its assessment of budgetary plans submitted to it by eurozone countries. Commenting on Lithuania’s 2016 national budget draft, the EC says it strays too much from fiscal discipline targets and that Lithuania might fail to keep structural deficit below 1 percent of GDP. Lithuania’s prime minister has responded that the government is not planning to revise the budget. […]
Defence
NATO jets scrambled once to intercept Russian military aircraft
On 9-15 November, fighter aircraft of the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States performed one A-Scramble to intercept a foreign aircraft in international airspace above the Baltic Sea, the Ministry of National Defence reports. […]