CORPORATE
Syria
Society
Refugees in Lithuania begin search for work
Refugees resettled in Lithuania have started looking for job, says the country’s Labour Exchange which set up a special unit to work with them. […]
Defence
NATO Warsaw summit will include decision on Baltic garrisons, says NATO general
At the NATO Joint Force headquarters in Brunssum, commander Salvatore Farina told the Estonian military administration that a decision on the garrison of NATO military forces in the Baltic states will be made at the alliance’s summit meeting in Warsaw. […]
European Union
A fragmented foreign policy leads to a weakened European Union
The Lisbon Treaty was designed to fundamentally alter the Common Foreign and Security Policy. At last, the EU was supposed to have the answer to Kissinger’s famous question: who do you call if you wish to speak with Europe? Solidarity, enhanced cooperation and streamlined decision-making were the future. At the end of the line, a stronger European Union with a new global standing awaited. […]
Foreign affairs
Lithuania to send military doctors to Jordan – president
Lithuania is planning to send several military doctors to Jordan to help the Middle Eastern country handle refugees from Syria, President Dalia Grybauskaitė said. […]
CORPORATE
Lithuanians oppose unskilled migrants despite labour shortages
There is a growing recognition that immigration will be needed to solve skill shortages in the Lithuanian labour market, but while Lithuanians are happy to let in highly qualified specialists from Belarus and Ukraine, they […]
Foreign affairs
Syrian refugee family arrive in Lithuania under EU resettlement programme
A Syrian family of five have arrived in Lithuania from Turkey under the European Union‘s (EU) resettlement programme. […]
Uncategorized
Nina Khrushcheva: Putin is a brilliant tactician, but a losing strategist
Each Russian leader picks a subject he is an expert in and Vladimir Putin‘s subject is history. “That is why in order to understand Russia, we must understand Russian history,” says Professor Nina Khrushcheva of the New School University in New York. […]
Uncategorized
The impact of Panama Papers in Eastern Europe – and rest of the world
On April 3, the Panama Papers hit media outlets around the world, and the fallout was swift. […]
CORPORATE
‘There is no institution like the Vatican in Islam that can excommunicate extremist Muslims’
There were some 13 million Muslims living in Europe several years ago, according to Pew Research Center, and several more million have come from Syria and Iraq over the last few years. Professor Egdūnas Račius of the Kaunas-based Vytautas Magnus University says that religion is not always the right lens through which to look at and make sense of the world’s Muslims. […]
Foreign affairs
What if Syrian civil war happened in Lithuania?
The Syrian civil war, which started five years ago, has devastated the country, killing 270,000 people and displacing half of the population. Public Radio International, based in the United States, developed an application that simulates the scale of the damage in terms of any other country of your choice. […]
Defence
Migration and terrorism will push West to cooperate with Russia – Lithuanian intelligence
Counter-terrorism efforts and the migration crisis will reduce the international community’s attention on the security situation in Eastern Europe and will have a negative effect upon Lithuania, according to Lithuanian intelligence assessments. […]
Uncategorized
Russia already reaping benefits of Syria conflict with military sales
Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that the war in Syria cost Russia 33 billion Rubles (or €430 million) but it may also generate billions of euros in arms sales for Russia. […]
Opinion
The ulterior motive behind Russia’s partial Syria withdrawal
With great fanfare and “surprise” Russia once again seemingly out-maneuvered Western leadership in Syria. While much ink has been spilled debating whether President Vladimir Putin is executing a sound strategy—or is merely a tactical opportunist—it is clear that he has achieved his primary strategic goal: making Russia geopolitically relevant again and forcing the West to begrudgingly accept that it must take into account Russian interests. But there is an ulterior motive to Putin’s partial withdrawal. […]
Opinion
Spinning Russia’s Syria exit
Russian television has thrived for months on a diet of victories in Syria. Now that the time has come to spin the news of a withdrawal, the argument is being deployed that it is best to avoid a second Afghanistan. Better still, the exit is being presented as another case of Russia outsmarting the United States. […]
Opinion
Tenuous immigration agreement between EU and Turkey
After two days of negotiations, Turkey and the European Union reached a compromise agreement on a plan to reduce the flow of migrants from the Middle East to Europe. At a summit concluding March 18, the heads of government of the 28 EU members and their Turkish counterparts approved the plan, which should take effect March 20. While the deal could help reduce the number of migrants arriving in Europe, questions remain about the signatories’ ability and commitment to fully enforce it. […]
Society
European Union
EU deal with Turkey may open up new migrant routes – Lithuanian president
The European Union‘s (EU) agreement with Turkey on returning migrants may open new migration routes to Europe, Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė said after arriving at the European Summit on Thursday. […]
Uncategorized
The Pope and the Patriarch: Russia’s search for the right West
The Western political establishment is hostile to Russia. This makes it all the more important to demonstrate that the Western religious establishment is more sympathetic. Regardless of Putin’s aims, the meeting between Pope and Patriarch has become a landmark event in the history of Christianity. […]
Foreign affairs