Last week, Justice Ministry said it is against additional restrictions on Russians, Belarusians; Foreign Minister vexed by President again
Lithuania mulls to invite Taiwanese bank
Lithuania has ambitions to invite a Taiwanese bank that could also operate across Europe, Paulius Lukauskas, head of the Lithuanian Trade Representative Office in Taiwan, has said. “The demand for banking in Europe is likely to grow. This is an opportunity for us. Our fintech ecosystem, our regulator, the Bank of Lithuania, has proved that it can be a bit faster, a bit more flexible. And all the beauty of the banking sector is that if they get a license in Lithuania, they could really operate across Europe without any problems,” Lukauskas said in an interview with the LRT news portal on Friday, the 29th of December.
Lithuania mulls special law to speed up German brigade’s deployment
The parliament, Seimas, could adopt a special law to speed up the deployment of the German brigade in Lithuania, Saulius Skvernelis, leader of the opposition Democrats, said on Friday, the 29th of December. The Lithuanian and German defence ministers earlier this month signed an action plan for the deployment of the Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania. Shortly afterwards, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported, based on leaked information, that the brigade’s deployment poses major financial challenges for Vilnius. According to the report, diplomatic correspondence from Berlin’s embassy in Vilnius suggests that Lithuania is convinced that it will only have to pay for the military infrastructure and only proportionally contribute to the cost of accommodating the German troops.
Lithuania reports 656 new COVID-19 cases, four deaths
Lithuania recorded 656 new coronavirus infections and four deaths from COVID-19 over Thursday, the 28th of December, official statistics showed on Friday, the 29th of December. The 14-day primary infection rate has dropped to 335.7 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 26%. The number of new coronavirus cases hit the peak in Lithuania in early February 2022 when more than 14 000 new infections were recorded daily. Around 1.38 million people in Lithuania have tested positive for COVID-19 at least once. COVID-19 incidence in Lithuania took an upward turn in mid-September after having stayed at a low level since May.
Global Lithuanian Awards go for seven Lithuanians
Global Lithuanian Awards for this year’s Lithuanian international achievements and accomplishments in the field of innovation and technology were presented in a ceremony in Vilnius on Thursday, the 28th of December. Kristina Sabaliauskaitė, Lithuania’s most internationally read contemporary writer, was named the winner in the category For Worldwide Recognition of Global Lithuanian Professionals. Tomas Okmanas and Eimantas Sabaliauskas, co-founders of Nord Security and Tesonet, received the award in the category For Lithuanian Innovations Leading Globally, and Emilė Radytė, a neuroscientist and co-founder of Samphire Neuroscience, won in the category For International Achievements of Young Lithuanian Scientific Talents. The award For Investments Attracted to Lithuania went to Hollister Lietuva CEO Saulius Bitinas for attracting “record investments in the production of medical products in Lithuania”. In the category For Creating International Business Relations, Ingrida Getrūda Bublys, honorary general consul of Lithuania and president at IBInternational Inc. in the US, was honoured for “fostering the growth of Lithuanian businesses and opening doors to the world’s largest market”. The award in the category For Promoting Lithuania Globally was presented to Gabrielė Kupšytė, an opera soloist of the younger generation, currently pursuing her career at the Royal Opera House in London. The Foreign Ministry’s award For Lifetime Achievements went to the Lithuanian World Center in Lemont, the US.
Justice Ministry says extra restrictions on Russians, Belarusians against EU law
The proposal to tighten existing restrictions on Belarusian and Russian citizens in Lithuania is not in line with European Union (EU) law, the Justice Ministry’s lawyers ruled on Thursday, the 28th of December. The amendments envision removing the possibility for both Russians and Belarusians to apply for visas already in Lithuania, unless they are mediated by the Foreign Ministry. Without such visas, these foreigners would in principle not be able to apply for a temporary residence permit in Lithuania either. According to the ministry, EU Member States are obliged to issue the necessary visas to foreigners who meet all the conditions for admission laid down in respective Directives. Early in December, Conservative MPs Audronius Ažubalis, Laurynas Kasčiūnas and Paulius Saudargas registered a proposal to tighten restrictions on Belarusian citizens.
Brewer slapped with 800 thousand euro fine
Lithuania’s Competition Council (CC) has slapped a fine of more than 0.8 million euros on Švyturys-Utenos Alus, the country’s largest brewing company, for obstructing an investigation, the CC announced on Wednesday, the 27th of December. The company admits the infringement and promises to pay the fine but is considering challenging its amount. According to the Council, the company deleted relevant information during the inspection and did not provide a copy of the data, thereby obstructing the investigation. As the company admitted to having violated the competition law by such actions and cooperated with the investigators, the fine imposed on it was reduced by almost 200 000 euros to 810 800 euros, the Council said in a press release. The company’s communications director that the company would pay the fine.
Government mulls to turn to top court over LGBTIQ
The Lithuanian Justice Ministry said on Wednesday, the 27th of December, it is initiating a petition to the Constitutional Court over a law provision that bans disseminating among minors information “that denigrates family values” and promotes the LGBTIQ family concept. Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska said the move comes in response to the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling in early 2023 that Lithuania violated the rights of Neringa Macatė, a now deceased writer, by applying this provision. The government proposed that the Seimas remove this provision from the Law on the Protection of Minors from Negative Effects of Public Information, but the parliament rejected the initiative in November. The Strasbourg court ruled that Lithuania violated the European Convention on Human Rights by restricting the publication of Macatė’s book Amber Heart.
Foreign Minister vexed by the President again
As Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has disclosed the names of the considered candidates for the position of ambassador in Poland, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Tuesday, the 26th of December, that such a situation is unacceptable and undermines foreign partners’ confidence in Lithuania. His comment came in response to Nausėda’s interview with the TV3 television when he disclosed that Kestutis Kudzmanas and Petras Zapolskas had been considered for the position. As the presidential office, the Foreign Ministry and the ruling majority are embroiled in public debate on the stalling appointment of the country’s ambassador to Lithuania, Nausėda told the TV3 television on Thursday he wanted answers as to why the ministry’s prior competition for the country’s ambassador to Poland had been deemed invalid.
Former Foreign Minister appointed ambassador to Sweden
Former Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius has been appointed as Lithuania’s Ambassador to Sweden after a cooling-off period of almost three years. President Gitanas Nausėda signed a decree on this appointment on the 19th of December, but the news broke out on Wednesday, the 27th of December. According to the decree, Linkevičius will take up his new duties on the 15th of January. Linkevičius served as Lithuania’s foreign minister for two consecutive terms from 2012 to 2020.
Lithuania has plan for 20th anniversary of NATO, EU membership
The government has approved a plan for marking the 20th anniversary of Lithuania’s membership of NATO and the European Union next year, featuring a celebratory run, a tour for foreign journalists, a climate week, exhibitions, concerts and other events. The plan, worked out by the Foreign Ministry, comprises 56 projects, including a Runway Run at the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ air base, a concert in Vilnius, an international Baltic military conference. Among other ideas presented in the plan are a tour of Lithuania for NATO journalists, a climate week, a NATO Military Tattoo 2024 festival, a debate program, discussions, exhibitions, and others.
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Week in Lithuania | Global Lithuanian Awards given to seven Lithuanians; brewery fined 800 thousand euros
