Last week, President said he did not scrap plan to visit South Korea despite political crisis; MP Žemaitaitis stripped of immunity
Lithuania takes over ownership of Independence FSRU
Lithuania is set to finalize the purchase and take over ownership of the Independence, a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) that arrived in Klaipeda ten years ago and has played a key role in securing the country’s energy independence. The LNG carrier will be officially registered under the Lithuanian flag following its removal from Singapore’s ship registry and inclusion in Lithuania’s Register of Seagoing Ships on Friday, the 6th of December. The ceremony was attended by Presidents Gitanas Nausėda of Lithuania, Edgars Rinkevics of Latvia, Alar Karis of Estonia, and Andrzej Duda of Poland, also outgoing Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, former President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Hoegh Evi Chairman Morten W. Hoegh, and KN Energies CEO Darius Šilenskis. After Lithuania ceased all Russian gas imports in April 2022, except for transit to Kaliningrad, the Klaipėda LNG terminal became the country’s main source of gas supply.
Renewable projects will be given priority
As onshore solar and wind farm projects in active development stall in Lithuania and as the country plans to install two wind farms in the Baltic Sea by 2030, Energy Minister-designate Žygimantas Vaičiūnas said on Thursday, the 5th of December, that the priority should be given to onshore projects. On the 18th of November, Lithuania’s National Energy Regulatory Council on Monday re-launched the tender for the development of the country’s planned second 700 MW offshore wind park in the Baltic Sea, worth 3.13 billion euros.
Lithuania’s PM-designate says his Cabinet will not rush with tax changes
Lithuania’s Social Democrat Prime Minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas says his government will not rush into changing taxes as it does not want to repeat the mistakes of previous governments. Paluckas said on Thursday, the 5th of December, presenting the 19th government’s program to the Seimas, that his Cabinet will “learning from other mistakes.” In his words, 2025 will be devoted to discussions to assess the impact of possible tax adjustments on competitiveness, people’s purchasing power and consumption habits. Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the leader of the opposition Labor Movement, said the Paluckas government intends to “increase everything”, but does not specify where the money will come from.
PM-designate presents his government’s ‘big state’ program
Prime Minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas on Thursday, the 5th of December, presented the 19th government’s program, calling it a “big state” program. The new government vows to spend at least 3.5% of GDP on defence in line with military advice. Particular attention is to be paid to the planned deployment of the German brigade in Lithuania by 2027. It plans to tax the highest incomes at progressive rates, regardless of the type of income, and to link the personal income tax rate to the amount of income received, also regardless of the source. It vows to ensure wage growth in both the public and private sectors, to increase the non-taxable income level each year “with a view to bringing it as close as possible to the minimum monthly wage”, and to raise pensions more rapidly, to abolish the automatic inclusion of people in the second pillar pension scheme, while allowing contributions to pension funds to be suspended indefinitely. The Seimas is scheduled to vote on the new government’s program on the 12th of December. Once this is done, the Paluckas government will start working.
President does not scrap plan to visit South Korea despite political crisis
Despite the political crisis in South Korea, President Gitanas Nausėda said on Wednesday, the 4th of December, that he is sticking to his plan to visit the country. According to Nausėda, Kęstutis Budrys, the president’s chief national security advisor who is set to become Lithuania’s next foreign minister, visited South Korea last week. The president pointed out that the region is important for Lithuania, particularly because of North Korea, an ally of Russia. On the 4th of December, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol declared martial law. The move shocked the world, but martial law was lifted the same evening after lawmakers voted it down.
Lithuania rejects all claims by Belaruskali
Lithuania rejects all Belaruskali’s allegations and will present its arguments to the arbitration court, the Transport Ministry said on Wednesday, the 4th of December, a day after the Belarusian fertilizer giant filed an international arbitration claim reportedly seeking a billion euros in damages due to halted fertilizer transit. Belaruskali initiated investment arbitration proceedings against Lithuania in October 2023 after the Lithuanian government declared the freight contract between Lietuvos Geležinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG) and the Belarusian company invalid in January 2022. This decision led to the suspension of potash fertilizer transport through Lithuania starting the 1st of February that year. The Belarusian fertilizer giant claims that the contract was terminated illegally and possibly in violation of the bilateral agreement on investment promotion and protection.
President approves Cabinet without environment, justice ministers
President Gitanas Nausėda on Wednesday, the 4th of December, signed a decree to approve the line-up of the new Cabinet, but without the environment and justice ministers. Sigitas Podenas, head of the Nature Research Center, had been proposed for environment minister, and Virginijus Kulikauskas, a former head of the Lithuanian Prison Service, for justice minister. Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, which had put forward both candidates, said earlier on Wednesday that he wanted to hear the president’s reasons for rejecting them. Social Democratic Prime Minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas says that he did not formally submit the two ministerial candidates to Nausėda after certain “limitations in their competence or profile” were revealed during meetings with the president. Nausėda approved Nemunas Dawn’s third candidate, Ignas Hofmanas, a farmer and chairman of the Lithuanian Agriculture Council, for agriculture minister. The president endorsed all the other ministerial candidates proposed by the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) and the Democrats Union “For Lithuania.” The new ministers are expected to be sworn in next week when the government program is approved. The ruling coalition of the LSDP, “For Lithuania” and Nemunas Dawn holds 86 out of 141 seats in the new parliament.
Lithuania downgrades representation in OSCE ministerial meeting
Lithuania is downgrading the level of its representation at the upcoming Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ministerial meeting in Malta as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov plans to attend it, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, the 3rd of December. Lithuania will be represented at the meeting by Rasma Ramoškaitė, director of the ministry’s United Nations, International Organizations and Human Right Department. According to the ministry, the event will be boycotted not only by Lithuania’s top diplomat Gabrielius Landsbergis, but also by his Estonian counterpart, just like last year.
MP Žemaitaitis stripped of immunity
The Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday, the 3rd of December, stripped MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis of his legal immunity, allowing the court to continue hearing his criminal case for inciting hatred against Jews. The motion passed with 101 votes in favour and none against or abstaining. Žemaitaitis says that although he agreed to a simplified procedure for the lifting of his immunity, he rejects the charges brought against him by prosecutors. “This is absolutely a political case, absolutely political persecution,” the chairman of the Nemunas Dawn party told the parliament. This was the reason, he said, why his party’s political group in the Seimas did not take part in the vote. At his request, images from the Gaza Strip, an interview with Faina Kukliansky, chairwoman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community, and a performance by Jonas Mekas were shown during the sitting. The chairman of the Nemunas Dawn party also pointed out that the International Criminal Court had recently issued an international arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest.
Lithuania bans entry to Ivanishvili, other Georgian politicians
Lithuania has banned Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of the Georgian Dream party, and other Georgian politicians from entering the country. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced the move on the X social media platform on Monday, the 2nd of December, making public the names of the Georgian politicians sanctioned for human rights violations.
Two EP groups call for Nemunas Dawn’s ejection from ruling bloc
The European People’s Party (EPP) and the Renew Europe groups on Monday, the 2nd of December, called for the exclusion of the controversial Nemunas Dawn party from the ruling coalition in Lithuania, reads the statement signed by the two groups’ leaders Manfred Weber and Valerie Hayer. The EPP group includes Lithuanian MEPs Rasa Juknevičienė, Paulius Saudargas and Lithuania’s new European Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius. And the Petras Auštrevičius of the Liberal Movement and Dainius Žalimas of the Freedom Party are members of the Renew Europe group. Remigijus Žemaitaitis, chairman of the Nemunas Dawn, has been criticized for his anti-Semitic statement. Last year, he was found to have broken the Constitution, and he’s now standing trial as part of a criminal case.