European Union
Lithuanians among most enthusiastic about EU membership, want UK to stay – poll
A new poll shows that 70% of Lithuanians were positive about the country’s EU membership, the fifth highest rating in the European Union. […]
United Kingdom
European Union
Three of four UK demands to avoid Brexit agreed upon, says Lithuanian President
European Union and British negotiators have reached agreement on most of Britain’s demand for reforms, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė said, adding that agreement on London’s proposal to cut benefits for EU migrants was also in sight. […]
European Union
Discrimination against some EU citizens cannot be price for avoiding Brexit – Lithuanian President
European Union countries must look for compromise and help the British government convince the British people to stay in the Union, but not at the price of discrimination against EU citizens, says Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė ahead of important talks in Brussels. […]
European Union
Lithuania ‘cannot imagine’ EU without Britain
Lithuania cannot imagine the European Union (EU) without the United Kingdom, says the country’s Ambassador to the EU Jovita Neliupšienė. […]
Global LT
Lithuanian basketball league in Britain helps preserve cultural identity
Over the weekend, I visited a Sabonis Taurė basketball game being held at the Sydney Rusell sports centre in east London. The Kubus United and Baltic Staff Lithuanian basketball teams were fighting for the chance to move on to the next stage. […]
Defence
Uncategorized
Britain ‘preparing for NATO-Russia conflict in Eastern Europe’
A major British army exercise to practice an Iraq invasion-scale operation with US forces in Jordan is in preparation for a possible confrontation with Russia in Eastern Europe. […]
Foreign affairs
Lithuanian president calls off trip to conference on Syria aid in London
Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė cancelled a planned trip to London where she was to attend an international high-level conference on humanitarian aid to Syria. Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius will take part in the event instead. […]
European Union
Draft proposals to keep Britain in EU to hit Lithuanian migrants in UK
Draft proposals by European Council president Donald Tusk to keep Britain in the European Union include proposals for an ‘emergency brake’ that would allow countries to curb in-work benefits to migrants for up to four years that could affect the many Lithuanian emigrants living and working in the UK, or planning to move to the UK. […]
Politics
Ethics watchdog will not investigate London trip of minister’s husband
Lithuania’s ethics watchdog has decided not to investigate Education Minister Audronė Pitrėnienė who caused controversy by taking her husband on an official trip to London. […]
CORPORATE
Partnership with Poland should be Lithuania’s key foreign policy priority, says former ambassador to US
Many in Lithuania have been criticizing Poland‘s new government, but former Lithuanian ambassador to the US Žygimantas Pavilionis believes that the return of a strategic partnership between Poland and Lithuania should be our greatest foreign policy priority. According to Pavilionis, those now criticising the Polish government are the same people that accepted Barack Obama‘s attempts to reset the US relationship with Russia and improve the EU’s relationship with Russia. […]
Economy
Why Lithuanians prefer to go bankrupt abroad
After Lithuania legalized bankruptcy procedures for individuals three years ago, only 17 people have made use of the relief from their debts by declaring bankruptcy. Another 900 have started bankruptcy procedures which take three years. Lithuanians who want to go bankrupt faster and easier still prefer to do it in Latvia or the United Kingdom. […]
European Union
London does not wish to breach fundamental principles of EU – Lidington in Vilnius
London is not seeking to restrict the free movement of persons or workers in the European Union, but finds it unfair that incoming immigrants can use the UK‘s benefit system without having contributed to it, said UK’s Minister of State for Europe David Lidington in Vilnius. […]
Global LT
London Lithuanians run out to make sure memories of January 13 will not be forgotten
Despite the inclement weather, Lithuanians living in London met at Parsloes park, Dagenham on the morning of Saturday 9th January for a commerorative run to mark the historic events of January 13. The pouring rain did not have any effect on the people or on the joyful atmosphere. […]
Politics
UK’s Europe minister coming to Lithuania
United Kingdom‘s Minister of State for Europe David Lidington is visiting Lithuania on Thursday and Friday. He is to meet with Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius and attend the Snow Meeting of security policy experts on Thursday. […]
European Union
Denying benefits to EU migrants in Britain is ‘discrimination’, President Grybauskaitė says
The European Union‘s talks with the United Kingdom in the run-up to its membership referendum will be complicated, says Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė. While she supports London’s drive to make the EU more efficient and less bureaucratic, she has said that proposals to deny benefits to EU nationals residing in Britain are “discriminatory”. […]
Society
Over 100,000 emigrants have returned to Lithuania over the past decade
On International Migrants Day (18 December), Statistics Lithuania announced that, over the last decade, 126,000 new residents immigrated into Lithuania while 438,500 emigrated. From 2005 to 2014, the percentage of emigrants of ages 20-39 grew from 51.9 to 59.2 percent. In 2014, as many as 82 percent of working-age people had not worked for a year or longer before leaving the country. […]
Economy
European Union
Grybauskaitė to discuss energy, border protection and UK’s reforms with EU council
On Thursday, 17 December, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė will travel to Brussels to attend a European Council meeting and discuss additional measures to manage the migration crisis, including the setting up of a European Border and Coast Guard. European leaders will also exchange views on how to strengthen the EU’s energy union and will address EU reforms proposed by the United Kingdom, the presidency said. […]
Defence
Lithuanian defence policy director: We have created a security club
Defence Minister Juozas Olekas has signed an agreement in London, establishing the Joint Expeditionary Force. Defence Policy Director at the Ministry of National Defence Vaidotas Urbelis says that the seven states that signed the agreement share a similar view on security and will be able to decide how to react to conflicts on their own. […]