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Russia
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Foreign affairs
Armenia’s Eurasian Union membership should not block EU ties, Lithuanian foreign minister says
Armenia‘s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, which is being established by Russia, should not become an obstacle for Armenia to continue constructive cooperation with the European Union, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius said during his visit to the Caucasian country on Friday. […]
Uncategorized
Lithuania calls on Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine and not to annex Abkhazia
At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Friday, the Lithuanian ambassador called on Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine and refrain from actions which would mean a de facto annexation of Abkhazia. […]
Defence
Constitutional Court president: Lithuania must fulfill NATO defence spending and EU human rights commitments
Lithuania’s NATO membership is a constitutional asset and the country must fulfill its commitment to ensure proper defence funding, Dainius Žalimas, president of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania, says. […]
Energy
Russia’s hold on the Baltics loosens
Lithuania is set to open a floating liquid natural gas (LNG) import terminal in Klaipėda on 27 October. The LNG terminal, once fully operational, will play a significant role in reducing Lithuania and other Baltic states’ energy dependence on Russia. This will weaken Russia’s use of energy as a political tool in the Baltics, and in turn offer some limited protection for the Baltic countries in the standoff between Moscow and the West. […]
Defence
Uncategorized
Lithuanian president: Ukrainian elections must be free of external interference
Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė stressed at the European Council summit that the Ukrainian parliamentary elections should take place on Sunday without any pressure from the outside. […]
Foreign affairs
Lithuanian president gets provocative question from Russian reporter in Brussels
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė arrived in Brussels on Thursday for an EU summit, where she was instantly approached by a Russian-speaking reporter with a provocative question. […]
Defence
The Financial Times: NATO flexes muscles in Baltics amid Russian incursions
With tensions rising between Russia and Western countries over the military crisis in Ukraine, NATO is reporting a marked increase in Russian provocations in the skies over member states in Eastern Europe and the Baltics this year, The Financial Times reports. “You have to go a long way back to see anything like it,” according to one NATO official. […]
Opinion
Opinion: How Russia wages hybrid energy war against Lithuania
The hybrid war, tested in Ukraine, was a big surprise for some time even for defence experts. Now, it seems that this lesson has been learned – Lithuania is one of the first countries in NATO which started to form a rapid reaction force aimed at responding to the new military threats. […]
Uncategorized
Lithuanian foreign minister: Russia wants to legitimize annexation of Georgian breakaway regions
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius said during a visit in Georgia that Russia‘s proposal for Abkhazia to sign a special agreement is an attempt to de facto annex the region. […]
Economy
Russian court substantially reduces bail for Lithuanian ship
Russia‘s Murmansk court on Thursday reduced the bail for the release of the arrested Lithuanian fishing vessel Jūros Vilkas (Sea Wolf) three times, from 113 million roubles to 36.6 million rubles (EUR 2.1m to 0.7m), lawyer for the shipowner Vladimir Odiagailo confirmed to BNS. […]
Uncategorized
Russian media under ever-tightening grip of the Kremlin
After Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law limiting foreign capital in Russian media companies to 20 percent, there are fears this will undercut the last remaining voices in the country that dare to be critical of the government. But despite massive pressure, a handful of Russian journalists refuse to give in. […]
European Union
Lithuanian MEP to produce report on EU-Russian relations
Lithuanian MEP Gabrielius Landsbergis has been asked by the European Parliament‘s Committee on Foreign Affairs to draft a report on EU-Russia relations. […]
Opinion
Opinion: What is Putin going to do next?
How should we evaluate the current phase of Russia’s war against Ukraine? Is Vladimir Putin content with the results of his invasion and is going to stop? Unfortunately, there are too many arguments that suggest it is just a short silence before the next storm. […]
Uncategorized
The case of Yevtushenkov: One more look at Russia through the prism of clan battles
In the last essay of the series “Putin’s Russia”, I discussed the long efforts of Yevgeny Primakov’s clan to turn Ukraine’s conflict in the direction of conditional peace rather than war by imposing certain conditions and concluding everything with a peace agreement that is so useful to Russia. […]
Society
Lithuania issues most residency permits to Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians
Most of the residency permits issued by Lithuania were given to Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian nationals last year, according to a report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. […]
Uncategorized
Estonia to better mark border with Russia
The Constitutional Committee of the Estonian parliament supported a law amendment that allows the government to determine the location of Estonian-Russian temporary control line, which creates prerequisites for marking it better, maintaining and guarding it more effectively, Public Broadcasting reports. […]
Society