Last week, Two Spanish citizens were arrested for planning a terrorist act in Lithuania; President-elect Trump praised Lithuania during a phone call with Nausėda
Foreign ministry says ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu must be enforced
The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister, and Hamas’ military chief must be enforced, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said on Friday, the 22nd of November. The ministry added that Lithuania has consistently supported the ICC’s activities and respects its independence and impartiality. It noted that the Rome Statute came into effect in Lithuania in August 2003 and that it currently has 125 state parties worldwide. The latest country to join was Ukraine, where the statute is set to take effect on the 1st of January 2025.
President kicks off meetings with ministerial candidates
President Gitanas Nausėda kicked off meetings on Friday, the 22nd of November, with candidates for ministerial posts in the new government. First, Nausėda met with Social Democrat Dovilė Šakalienė, who is nominated for the post of defence minister, and then, with Kestutis Budrys, the president’s chief national security advisor who is proposed as foreign minister. Šakalienė now serving her third term in the Seimas, has been a member of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence since 2019. She has previously worked at the Human Rights Monitoring Institute and in the media. Ahead of her meeting with the president, Šakalienė listed hosting the German brigade, increasing defence funding, strengthening the armed forces, and developing a military division among her priorities. Budrys, who has been advising President Nausėda since 2022, previously served as deputy director of the State Security Department. He began his career in intelligence in 2002 and worked as an advisor to President Dalia Grybauskaitė starting in 2009.
MP Žemaitaitis asks to be stripped of his legal immunity
MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, on Thursday, the 21st of November, asked to be stripped of his legal immunity under a simplified procedure. He made the request after Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė earlier in the day formally asked the parliament to strip the lawmaker of his legal immunity to face prosecution. According to the Statute of the Seimas statute, at least 71 out of 141 MPs have to authorize the prosecution of a member of the Seimas. Lifting Žemaitaitis’ immunity is necessary for the court to continue its proceedings in a criminal case in which he is charged with publicly ridiculing, expressing contempt for and inciting hatred against a group of people and its members based on their ethnicity, as well as grossly trivializing the Holocaust. The previous Seimas already lifted Žemaitaitis’ immunity, following the Constitutional Court’s ruling that the MP broke his oath as an MP and grossly violated the Constitution by making anti-Semitic statements. An impeachment process was started but never completed because he resigned from the Seimas to run in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections. He was re-elected to the Seimas in October.
President appoints Paluckas as prime minister
President Gitanas Nausėda on Thursday, the 21st of November, appointed Social Democrat Gintautas Paluckas as the country’s new prime minister. Under the presidential decree, the new prime minister has 15 days to form a new Cabinet and present its program to the Seimas. Earlier in the day, the country’s parliament, the Seimas, voted to appoint Paluckas as the country’s next prime minister after 88 MPs voted in favor, 34 were against and, six abstained. Paluckas, 45, an informatics specialist, was nominated to lead Lithuania’s 19th government by the LSDP, the winner of the recent general election, after the party’s leader Vilija Blinkevičiūtė chose to keep her seat in the European Parliament and renounced her Lithuanian MP mandate and the possibility to be prime minister.
Lithuanian and Taiwanese businesses concur to jointly develop drone technology
The Lithuanian Defence and Security Industries Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Taiwan Defence Industry Development Association in Vilnius on Thursday, the 21st of November. The agreement, reached at the Lithuanian-Taiwanese Drone Industry Business Forum in Vilnius, calls for creating a cooperation platform and promoting bilateral investment in the development of Lithuanian and Taiwanese drone technologies, as well as boosting global competitiveness.
Government gives nod to double Giraitė ammo factory’s capital
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday, the 20th of November, gave the green light to invest 11.16 million euros in the capital of the state-owned small-caliber ammunition manufacturer Giraitės Ginkluotės Gamykla (Giraite Armament Factory, or GGG). With the Cabinet’s decision, the authorized share capital of the Kaunas District-based company will double to nearly 22.3 million euros. According to Finance Minister Gintarė Skaistė, whose ministry is the factory’s sole shareholder, increasing the company’s capital is one of the key steps taken by the state to secure a larger supply of combat ammunition. The Finance Ministry plans to allocate a total of 36 million euros by 2027 to expand GGG’s capacity. This will allow the factory to start installing the new production line earlier than originally planned.
Vilnius Airport to be symbolically named after Čiurlionis for 5 years
Vilnius Airport will carry the symbolic name of Lithuanian composer and artist Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis for five years starting in 2025, the government decided on Wednesday, the 20th of November. According to a document prepared by Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, the symbolic naming aims to promote Čiurlionis’ legacy and mark his 150th birth anniversary. The Transport Ministry opposed fully renaming the airport but supported the idea of giving it the commemorative name of Čiurlionis, which will involve creating a sign honouring and symbolizing his memory. The ministry said that officially renaming the airport would require significant administrative and financial resources and could cause confusion for travellers searching for flight destinations.
Presidential advisor says Baltic Sea intelligence, patrols need enhancing
Lithuania must bolster intelligence capabilities and increase patrols in the Baltic Sea after two undersea fiber-optic cables were damaged, Kestutis Budrys, President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief national security advisor, said on Tuesday, the 19th of November. The presidential advisor noted that Lithuanian authorities have information on Russian ships operating undercover to carry out intelligence and sabotage activities. Budrys emphasized the need for preventive actions at sea to protect infrastructure. Lithuania’s Swedish-owned telecoms company Telia Lietuva reported that one of the three undersea communication cables between Sweden and Lithuania was damaged last Sunday. This information was later confirmed by officials in Stockholm.
Two Spanish nationals arrested for planning terrorist act in Lithuania
Lithuanian law enforcement has detained two Spanish nationals suspected of planning to carry out an act of terrorism in the country, prosecutors said on Monday, the 18th of November. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the suspects arrived in Lithuania in September and allegedly intended to set fire to production facilities, outdoor equipment, and other items used by a privately owned company in Siauliai during the night. The suspects attempted to hide in Riga, where they were detained by Latvia’s State Security Service.
President says Trump praised Lithuania during a phone call
President Gitanas Nausėda had a phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, the 18th of November, and says the latter praised Lithuania. “President Donald Trump began and ended the conversation with praise for Lithuania,” the Lithuanian leader told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday, the 19th of November. Nausėda said Lithuania’s focus on security issues and its active role in international politics were discussed during the conversation. “At the end of the conversation he said: “You are moving forward very well, keep on going, stay on the same path”, the Lithuanian president said.
PM nominee says he backs two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians
Gintautas Paluckas, the nominee for Lithuanian prime minister as of Tuesday, the 19th of November, said on Tuesday that he supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. This approach calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Although more than three-quarters of UN members have recognized Palestinian statehood, major Western countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union, have not done so. The issue of Palestinian recognition became especially relevant after the Hamas-Israel war broke out last year. Spain, Ireland, and Norway formally recognized Palestine as a state in May, hoping others would follow their lead and help bring about peace.