Linas Jegelevičius
Last week, President stripped the ex-US House speaker of a state award, Lithuania lost an ECHR case over a fairy tale book about gay love.
Eighteen irregular migrants turned away on the border with Belarus
Lithuanian border guards turned away 18 migrants from Thursday, the 26th of January, to Friday, the 27th of January, attempting to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Friday. Lithuanian border guards have prevented about 19,500 people from crossing in from Belarus since the 3rd of August, 2021, when they were given the right to turn away irregular migrants. The number includes repeated attempts by the same people to cross the border. Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into Lithuania from Belarus illegally in 2021.
Vilnius receives 49-million-euro EBRD loan for new trolleybuses
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide a loan of up to 48.25 million euros to Vilniaus Viešasis Transportas (Vilnus Public Transport, VVT), a municipal company in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, for the purchase of 159 new trolleybuses. The company plans to acquire 91 trolleybuses over a period of two years. It said in late 2022 that the first new trolleybuses would be delivered in the summer of 2024 and the rest will be delivered in early 2025. Vilnius is expected to upgrade its entire trolleybus fleet by 2026, and its average age will be slightly more than two years. VVT now has 657 vehicles, including 405 buses and 252 trolleybuses.
UK fintech platform Airwallex set to expand in Lithuania
Airwallex, a UK fintech platform, will expand its local team in Lithuania after obtaining an electronic money institution license from the Bank of Lithuania and setting up an EMEA service hub Airwallex Lithuania in Vilnius. The company is also looking for highly-qualified specialists, Investuok Lietuvoje (Invest Lithuania), Lithuania’s foreign investment promotion agency, said on Thursday, the 26th of January. AWX Lithuania now has 16 employees, according to Lithuania’s social insurance fund SoDra. Established in 2015, Airwallex provides financial infrastructure for businesses to accept payments and move money internationally.
An Ukrainian citizen robbed of 12 million hryvnias
Prosecutors in Lithuania’s second-largest city of Kaunas are investigating a possible armed robbery carried out on Tuesday, the 24th of January, when 12 million hryvnias (about 305,000 euros) were allegedly taken from a Ukrainian man, the prosecution service says. On Tuesday night, the Ukrainian national turned to the Marijampole County Chief Police Commissariat and stated that persons pretending to be police officers and using a gun stopped the car he was driving on the Kaunas-Marijampole-Suwalki road and took his handbag with the money. The suspects were detained in Klaipeda on Thursday, the 26th of January.
TV3 Group inks deal to buy M-1 radio stations
TV3 Group, a leading media house in the Baltics, announced the signing of a deal to purchase the group of radio stations owned by M-1. The group consists of M-1, Lietus, M-1 Plius, Lalūna, Raduga and the M-1 Dance online radio station. The transaction is expected to be closed in the summer of 2023, subject to clearance by the Competition Council. All Media Lithuania, which is part of TV Group, is set to buy 100 percent of shares in the companies.
Ministry receives 38 million euros for the education of Ukrainians
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday, the 25th of January, allocated more than 38 million euros to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport for the education of war refugees from Ukraine in 2023. The ministry had asked for over 65 million euros for this purpose. The lion’s share, 34,23 million, euros is earmarked for funding the education of Ukrainian children in kindergartens and schools, as well as for transportation to school. The ministry had requested 55,4 million euros for this purpose, saying that the amount of funding was calculated on the basis of the number of registered Ukrainian children on the 1st of September. At that time, more than 13,000 children were registered. Moreover, statistics show there are currently around 7,500 out-of-school Ukrainian children aged between 6 and 16 years in Lithuania.
President strips ex-US House speaker of state award
President Gitanas Nausėda signed a decree stripping Dennis Hastert, a former speaker of the US House of Representatives who has admitted to child molestation, of his Lithuanian state decoration. Hastert was awarded the 1st Class Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas in 2001 and was named an honorary citizen of Vilnius in the same year for his consistent support for Lithuania’s NATO membership. The City Council of Vilnius plans to consider stripping Hastert of his honorary citizen title in early February. Hastert served as the House speaker between 1999 and 2007.
Lockdown restrictions on beauty and dental services in line with the Constitution
The Lithuanian government’s restrictions on beauty and dental services during a coronavirus lockdown did not go against the Constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday, the 24th of January. The need to prevent and control the spread of communicable diseases threatening the health and lives of many people may warrant urgent and effective measures, according to the court. At the request of the Lithuanian Supreme Administrative Court (LVAT), the Constitutional Court looked into the constitutionality of a resolution of the former government of Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis that imposed restrictions on beauty and dental services during the COVID-19 pandemic back in March 2020. The LVAT referred the matter to the Constitutional Court after suspending an administrative case in which Aukštaitijos Implantologijos Klinika, a dental and beauty services provider, sought 34,000 euros in damages from the state for revenue lost as a result of the resolution.
Lithuania loses ECHR case over fairy tale book about homosexual love
Lithuania on Monday, the 23rd of January, lost a European Court of Human Rights case over the restricted publication of Amber Heart, a fairy tale book by Neringa Macaitė that contains storylines about same-sex relationships. The court ruled that Lithuania had violated the European Convention on Human Rights’ article on the freedom of expression. The Strasbourg-based court awarded 12,000 euros in non-pecuniary damages and 5,000 euros in legal costs. The fairy tale collection was published by the then the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences in late 2013. However, the university suspended the distribution of the book a few months later, calling it homosexual propaganda. Macaitė died in 2021 and was represented by her mother.
Week in Lithuania: Vilnius receives loan for new trolleybuses, Ukrainian citizen robbed
