Foreign affairs
Lithuania has contacts with Trump’s entourage – Foreign Minister
Lithuania has contacts with people in US President-elect Donald Trump‘s entourage, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius said on Wednesday. […]
NATO
Defence
Is sleeping beauty Kaliningrad Oblast about to wake up?
In early October, the Estonian media reported that Russia was transporting, by ship, Iskander short-range ballistic missiles from Ust Luga (Leningrad Oblast) to the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad (ERR, October 7). This news sparked a wave of commentary by politicians and experts in the Baltic Sea region: most saw this nuclear-capable missile deployment as a provocation. […]
CORPORATE
Lucas – big and bad news for the Baltics
With the Donald Trump victory in the US presidential elections, the Baltic States can await uneasy times warns Edward Lucas, chief editor for The Economist and VP of the Centre for European Policy Analysis. According […]
Riga Conference 2016 – a reflection
Every year Latvia hosts what is called The Riga Conference. This year was no different. Held in the National Library across the river from the Old Town, invited delegates from the world of diplomacy, think tanks, academia, the military, and political life, gathered to listen and take part in a series of talks focussing on European foreign policy and security. […]
Defence
NATO Forces in Baltic States: numerous but disjointed
As the Baltic States continue to confront Russian air and naval power in the Baltic Sea, two small missile ships, the Zelenyy Dol and the Serpukhov entered this crowded body of water at the end of October. These Russian vessels will reportedly become part of a newly formed Baltic division in the near future (TVNET, October 26). The redeployment of the Zelenyy Dol and Serpukhov is just the latest regional development negatively affecting the security of the Baltic States. None of these three post-Soviet republics has the financial resources available to sufficiently strengthen its own naval capabilities in response. Therefore, in order to defend their sovereignty and ensure the sustainability of their defence sectors, the Baltic States’ naval policies will continue to stress the ability to “fill the gaps” in the full spectrum of Allied maritime operations in the region, Olevs Nikers writes in the Jamestown Foundation. […]
Opinion
The unspoken about the European Union Army
In his annual speech “State of the Union” at the European Parliament, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker avoided naming the EU Army in particular, while he revealed new details on this idea within a framework which is more voter-friendly, namely the European Defence Union, MEP Dr. Roberts Zīle wrote for the Riga Conference portal […]
Defence
Lithuania ratifies protocol on Montenegro’s accession to NATO
The Lithuanian parliament ratified on November 3 a protocol on Montenegro‘s accession to NATO. […]
Defence
Deterrence is key – Stoltenberg tells Baltic states
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday assured the Baltic states that the most important thing for the Alliance was to deter, not to copy Russian actions amid the rising tensions between the West and Moscow over its increased military activity in the Baltic Sea region. […]
Defence
Defence
NATO confirms two Russian warships have entered Baltic Sea
Two Russian warships have recently entered the Baltic Sea, NATO confirmed on Wednesday. […]
Defence
Russia demonstrates aggression against European capitals – President
An intensifying demonstration of Russia’s military power in the region poses a threat to security not only in the region, but also in the whole of Europe, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė said on Wednesday. […]
Defence
Defence
Brzezinski: Obama should warn Russia against intrusion of Baltic states
Zbigniew Brzezinski, former US presidential adviser on national security, has urged the outgoing administration of Barack Obama to warn Russia that in intrusion into the Baltic states would mean a war to Moscow. […]
Society
Basir, Lithuanian-speaking Afghan refugee, accepts job offer from MEP
Abdul Basir Youssuf, the Afghani NATO interpreter who had worked with Lithuanian soldiers in Ghor province and was granted asylum in Lithuania after a plea for help on Youtube in Lithuanian, has accepted a job at a resort offered to him by Lithuanian MEP Antanas Guoga. […]
Foreign affairs
What does Russian withdrawal from Syria mean for Baltics and Lithuania?
Russia’s decision to withdraw the majority of its forces from Syria, announced on Monday by Vladimir Putin, has analysts questioning what the rationale behind the move was. Was this practice for Putin before another attack in Ukraine or the Baltic states, or was it an even more crushing defeat than what the Soviet Union experienced in Afghanistan? […]
Defence
Lithuania’s defence spending nearing 2% of GDP – PM
Lithuania is rapidly approaching its commitment to spend 2 percent of its GDP on defence, said Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius. […]
CORPORATE
Lithuania to send additional troops to Afghanistan and Mali
Lithuania will send six additional military police officers to NATO‘s mission in Afghanistan and a water purification unit and staff officers to the United Nations operation in Mali, the Ministry of National Defence told BNS on Tuesday. […]
Defence
Quiet skies over Baltic for NATO jets in 2016
The beginning of the year 2016 remains calm for NATO air-policing jets guarding the Baltic skies – they again were not scrambled to identify and intercept military aircraft of the Russian Federation or other countries last week, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence said. […]
Defence
Russia could occupy all Baltic States within three days – US analysts
If Russian tanks and troops invaded the Baltic States, NATO forces would be overrun in just under three days, according to a war games simulation by the Rand Corporation, a leading US think tank. […]
Opinion