Last week, Lithuanian industrialists turned to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) over China’s actions, airlines temporarily suspended flights from Lithuania to 20 destinations.
Lithuanian tourist bus accident leaves 13 people injured
A Lithuanian tourist bus accident last Sunday in southern Poland has left 13 people, including five children, injured, Lithuanian media reported on Monday, January 3. A total of 44 people were on the bus when it veered off the road near Lublin. 11 people, including four children, were taken to hospital. One seriously injured person was taken to a hospital in Lublin by helicopter. The police have no specific information on people’s injuries yet.
Lithuania flies almost 100 migrants back to Iraq
A charter flights took 98 Iraqi citizens back to their home country from Lithuania last Sunday after they agreed to go home voluntarily, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said on Monday, January 3. Lithuania has so far flown 537 irregular migrants back to their countries of origin, including 482 people who agreed to go back home voluntarily. Lithuania currently offers migrants 1,000 euros until January 20 to voluntarily return to their country of origin. There are currently 3,166 foreigners living at five foreigners’ registration centres in Lithuania.
Prominent MP opts to quit as chair of Seimas foreign affairs committee
Žygimantas Pavilionis announced on Monday, January 3, that he was stepping down as chairman of the Lithuanian parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, as demanded by the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats’ political group in the Seimas. The Homeland Union’s political group on December 21 gave Pavilionis until January 3 to step down. It had accused him of inconsistent and divisive decisions.
Grigeo Klaipėda’s Curonian Lagoon pollution case goes to court
A criminal case in which Grigeo Klaipėda and 14 current and former employees of the cardboard factory are accused of polluting the Curonian Lagoon has been sent to court for trial, a prosecutor said on Monday, January 3. The defendants include Gintautas Pangonis, the Grigeo Group’s main shareholder, Grigeo Klaipėda CEO Tomas Eikinas, and three former top executives of the cardboard factory. The charges in the case include abuse, falsification of documents, and breaches of environmental rules. The pollution scandal broke out in January 2020 when prosecutors launched their investigation on suspicion that Grigeo’s factory had been releasing untreated wastewater into the Curonian Lagoon for years.
Airlines temporarily suspend flights from Lithuania to 20 destinations
Airlines announced on Tuesday, January 4, they temporarily suspended flights from Lithuania to 20 destinations amid the worldwide spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, with most of them expected to resume in February. Most of the suspended flights are to Britain, due to its strict requirements for arrivals. At Vilnius Airport, the suspended flights include Wizz Air’s flights to Yerevan, Billund, Tel Aviv, Birmingham, Doncaster, Liverpool, Belfast and Lviv, Air Baltic’s flights to Dublin, Ryanair’s flights to Billund, Tel Aviv, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Kharkiv, and Norwegian Air Shuttle’s flights to Bergen, Stockholm and Bremen, according to LOU. Ryanair is suspending flights from Kaunas to Aalborg, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Helsinki, Gothenburg and Stockholm. Wizz Air and Ryanair are suspending their flights to London from Palanga Airport.
Lithuanian industrialists turn to OECD over China’s action
The Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists announced on Tuesday, January 4, they have turned to the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD over the existing trade restrictions China has imposed for Lithuania for the latter’s decision to allow open a Taiwanese representation office in Vilnius. Industrialists hope the BIAC will attract the OECD’s attention to the situation and turn to the World Trade Organisation, the confederation said. Over 130 Lithuanian businesses are not able to send their goods to China, and hundreds of containers are stuck in Chinese ports and cannot be resent to other countries, the LCI says. Moreover, Lithuanian businesses are finding it hard to import materials from China, even when they are ordered by another EU country, if it is known that Lithuania will be the end receiver.
Read also: China likes Nausėda’s regrets about Taiwanese representation in Vilnius
Taiwan plans to invest USD 200 million in Lithuania
The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania on Wednesday, January 5, confirmed plans to invest 200 million US dollars in the country in the near future. Eric Huang, the head of the office, said a special fund is being created for the purpose.
Lithuanian government won’t extend state of emergency on Belarus border
The Lithuanian government will not ask the parliament to extend the state of emergency on the border with Belarus, at least for now, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said on Wednesday, January 5. Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė told reporters earlier on Wednesday that her ministry had suggested extending the state of emergency for another month. Faced with an unprecedented influx of migrants, Lithuania declared a state of emergency on its border with Belarus on November 10, 2021 and later extended it to midnight January 14.
Ministry urges all Lithuanian citizens in Kazakhstan to register
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday, January 6, urged all Lithuanian citizens currently in Kazakhstan to register amid the ongoing unrest in the country. People are invited to fill in a special form for diplomats to be able to contact them, if necessary. Also, if Lithuanian citizens in Kazakhstan are not able to contact Lithuania’s diplomatic representations, they can approach for consular assistance by email and also call the ministry number. Some 100 Lithuanian citizens might now be in Kazakhstan’s biggest city of Almaty, based on the Lithuanian government’s information.
Telia Lithuania to invest 10 million euro near Vilnius
IT and telecommunications company Telia Lietuva (Telia Lithuania) plans to build a new data centre near Vilnius and invest 10 million euros into the project, the company announced on Friday, January 7. The new centre will be directly connected to the other two Telia Lietuva data centres in Vilnius, thus creating the largest data centre infrastructure in the Baltic states. In 2021, Telia Lietuva renovated its Žirmūnai data centre in Vilnius for almost 1 million euros and invested 2 million euros into expansion and modernisation of the Naujoji Vilnia data centre.
Lithuania reports 3,415 new coronavirus cases, 4 deaths
Lithuania registered 3,415 new coronavirus infections and four deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, the country’s statistics office said on Friday, January 7. This is the highest daily count of new COVID-19 patients since November 5 and a fourth day in a row when the country reports a spike in new cases. All of the fatalities were either not vaccinated or only partially vaccinated. The 14-day infection rate has risen to 955.7 per 100,000 people, and the seven-day percentage of positive tests has gone up to 17.3 percent. Overall, more than 536,400 people in Lithuania have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The death toll has reached around 7,500.
Week in Lithuania: 98 migrants taken to Iraq, Curonian Lagoon pollution case goes to court
