Defence

Weapons deals up capacity of Lithuanian army to new level

Purchases of weapons and weapon systems by the Lithunanian army in 2015 have modernised and increased it capacity to a level it never had before, according to defence analysts. […]

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. […]

Linas Linkevičius
Foreign affairs

Foreign Minister Linkevičius on response to Russian aggression: Inaction itself can be provocative

Lithuania and other countries in the Eastern block are looking for a clear and decisive message of support from the United States as Russian President Vladimir Putin tests NATO’s decisiveness and tries to fill the “gaps of influence” created by the West’s inability to protect international law and its own interests, said Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius in an interview with The Washington Times on Tuesday. […]

Juozas Olekas met with US Ambassador Deborah A. McCarthy
Defence

US will maintain long-term military presence in Lithuania, ambassador reassures

On 3 December, Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas discussed his recent visit in the US, assistance to Ukraine, participation in multinational operations and other security and defence issues at a meeting with Ambassador of the United States in Lithuania Deborah A. McCarthy, the Ministry of National Defence reports. […]

Vladimir Putin, Miloš Zeman, Angela Merkel
Uncategorized

Putin‘s Russia. How to change a country within several years

In the last essay of this series, I presented the experience of historic and recent Russia‘s impact in Greece, now I will attempt to look at one of the new member states of the European Union – the Czech Republic. […]

Vladimir Putin and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras
Uncategorized

Putin’s Russia. Kremlin’s plan for Europe, bribe No. 1

In the previous articles of the series ‘Putin’s Russia: Kremlin’s Goals and Tools’, I analysed the theory and practice of Russia’s foreign policy and drew attention to the fact that Russia still uses the ammunition of USSR KGB – disinformation, influence agents, scandals (e.g., Edward Snowden’s story) and criminal activity: corruption, criminal world, drug trafficking and terrorism. So I will now move on to the cases of three countries and their policies – that, I believe, will be a perfect illustration of Kremlin’s capabilities. […]

Stryker infantry fighting vehicle
Defence

USA ready to sell Stryker IFVs to Lithuania

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of the United States‘ Department of Defense issued a statement saying that Washington is ready to sell Stryker infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) to Lithuania for USD 599m. […]