Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius. Photo Ludo Segers

Foreign Minister Linkevičius to the Wall Street Journal: We shouldn’t accept the Kremlin’s ‘new normal’

Re-engagement with Russia should be accomplished on the Western countries’ own terms, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius claims in an op-ed piece published by the Wall Street Journal. While many would like to see a thaw in relations with Moscow, it is wrong to give into wishful thinking about Russia’s benevolence and draw false analogies with détente of the 1960s. […]

OSCE
Foreign affairs

Lithuania wants to send more diplomats to OSCE observer mission in Ukraine

Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is willing to send two additional diplomats to the Organization for Security and Cooperation’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Eastern Ukraine where clashes between the country’s governmental forces and Russian-supported separatists have been in progress for over a year. […]

Dalia Grybauskaitė
Politics

Lithuanian president delivers State of the Nation address: The world is not a peaceful place

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė made her annual State of the Nation address at the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, on Thursday. In her speech, the president mostly focused on national defence, security challenges stemming from Russia‘s aggressive policies, as well as emigration of working-age population. Grybauskaitė also stressed the need to work more on addressing social issues, particularly in childcare institutions. […]

No Picture
Opinion

Opinion: Why is Lithuania Russia’s Enemy No. 3?

That’s because the first two positions in Russia’s enemy ratings are reserved for extremely superior players. Lithuania in the third spot might sound counterintuitive, but it’s no joke, it’s an actual fact. But let’s unpack it in proper order. It comes as no surprise that Russia’s enemy number one is the United States, the only remaining superpower and world policeman after the collapse of the USSR. […]

Linas Linkevičius
Foreign affairs

Lithuanian foreign minister rejects predecessor’s criticism about Ukraine as “populism”

Lithuania’s Social Democratic Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius has rejected criticism levied on him by his concervative predecessor Audronius Ažubalis, who said that during its presidency in the UN Security Council Lithuania failed to initiate an appeal to the International Court of Justice over Russia‘s annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. […]

ES lyderių susitikimas
European Union

Analysts: EU aspirants ended up in limbo which cannot last forever

Despite the frantic attempts by some of the EU leaders to give a rosy tint to the otherwise murky picture of the EU Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, political analysts from Lithuania, Estonia and Ukraine, approached by the Lithuania Tribune, unanimously agree the EU partners with membership aspirations have ended up in a limbo after the high-profile meeting. The uncertainty cannot last forever, the analysts agree, but their predictions for how it may unfold differ. […]

President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Parliament Speaker Loreta Graužinienė
Uncategorized

President Grybauskaitė: Cooperation between Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine strengthens regional security

President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Marshal of the Polish Senate Bogdan Borusewicz, Chairman of Ukraine‘s Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Groysman, and Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Loreta Graužinienė, who are participating in the sixth session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine. The meeting focused on the security situation in the region, the situation in Ukraine, and enhanced interparliamentary cooperation between the three countries, said the presidential press service. […]

Stepan Poltorak and Artūras Paulauskas
Uncategorized

Lithuania to help Ukraine with training and “minimum” aid in weapons

Lithuania will continue its support to Ukraine in the shape of training and humanitarian aid, while support in weapons will remain at a minimum level, says Artūras Paulauskas, chairman of the parliamentary National Security and Defence Committee. […]

ES lyderių susitikimas
Opinion

Opinion: Kremlin’s ghost over Riga Summit (I)

The European Union launched its Eastern Partnership programme in 2009, soon after Russia‘s 2008 war on Georgia. It was proposed by Poland and Sweden, with enthusiastic support from Lithuania. Russia has ever since been blaming the programme for trying to undermine its interests in the countries Moscow refers to as the “near abroad”. […]