Last week, the top news in Lithuania were decisions to facilitate employment of third-country nationals and the launch of the Poland-Lithuania gas network interconnection.
Seimas expands hate criteria list to include skin colour, ethnic origin
The Parliament of Lithuania, the Seimas, expanded on Monday, May 2, the list of hate criteria to include a ban on discrimination based on skin colour and ethnic origin. Such amendments to the country’s Criminal Code were adopted last week in response to calls by the European Commission, the Justice Ministry said. 109 Lithuanian lawmakers voted in favour for the changes and five abstained. The amendments clarify the Criminal Code’s articles on hate speech and hate crimes, and provide for criminal liability not only for discrimination on the grounds of age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, race, nationality, language, origin, social status, religion, beliefs or opinions, but also on the grounds of skin colour and ethnic origin.
Ministry drafts legislation to ban Russian gas supplies
The Energy Ministry said on Monday, May 2, it has drafted legislation banning Russian natural gas supplies to Lithuania. If passed, the amendments to the Law on Natural Gas will bar access to Lithuania’s gas transmission system and its LNG terminal to suppliers from countries deemed as posing a threat to national security. The ban will not apply to gas transit via Lithuania to Russia’s Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. In response to Russia’s energy blackmail in Europe and the war in Ukraine, Lithuania completely stopped importing Russian gas in April.
Klaipeda port’s Q1 cargo traffic down 13.7 percent
The Lithuanian seaport of Klaipeda said on Tuesday that its first-quarter cargo traffic declined by 13.7 percent year-on-year to 9.7 million tons. Algis Latakas, the port’s CEO, said that he expects container shipments via Klaipeda to continue growing at a fast rate this year. Container (TEU) loadings in Klaipeda almost doubled in the first three months year-on-year to 218,000 tons, the highest increase among ports on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The handling of general cargoes, such as timber, iron and steel products, metal structures, refrigerated and ro-ro cargoes, increased by 13 percent to 4.3 million tons. However, the handling of liquid cargoes, such as oil products, fertilisers and liquefied natural gas, declined by 6.1 percent to 1.9 million tons, and bulk cargoes, such as fertilizers, raw sugar and peat, slumped down by 35.1 percent to 3.5 million tons. Klaipeda held onto its number four position among ports on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea in terms of first-quarter cargo tonnage.
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Lithuania, US wrap up joint cyber defence operation
Lithuania and the United States have wrapped up a “hunt forward” joint cyber defence operation aimed at boosting interoperability and increasing the resilience of critical networks to cyber threats, the Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, May 3. It was Lithuania’s first joint project with US CYBERCOM in response to cyber threats The operation involved a. US CYBERCOM team and specialists from the National Cyber Security Centre and the IT Service under the Defence Ministry.
Lithuania rises to 9th place in World Press Freedom Index
Lithuania rose to number nine in this year’s World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Tuesday, May 3, up from 28th place last year. According to the report, Lithuania’s media landscape continues to be dominated by the public broadcaster LRT, and TV3 and LNK, the main commercial media groups.
PM extends condolences over death of Shushkevich
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė extended on Tuesday, May 3, her condolences over the passing of Stanislav Shushkevich, the first president of independent Belarus, stressing that his contribution to the dissolution of the Soviet Union will go down in history. The first leader of independent Belarus, who later became a critic of the country’s authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, died at the age of 87. Speaking with AFP, his wife confirmed he died as a result of coronavirus-related complications. In December, 1991, Boris Yeltsin, Leonid Kravchuk and Stanislav Shushkevich, the then leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, gathered in the Belovezhskaya Forest and declared the Soviet Union was defunct.
Cabinet approves easier hiring of third-country nationals
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday, May 4, approved a package of legislative amendments to facilitate the hiring of third-country nationals, a move yet to be endorsed by the parliament. The Interior Ministry and the Social Security and Labour Ministry propose a set of measures to make it easier to recruit third-country nationals, especially highly skilled professionals, simplify migration procedures and reduce the administrative burden. From next year, all foreigners would be able to apply for temporary residence permits in Lithuania remotely and the time limit for issuing a residence permit would be reduced by a month.
Poland-Lithuania gas link inaugurated
Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL), a 500-kilometre, 500-million-euro natural gas transmission pipeline, was formally inaugurated on Thursday, May 5, marking the completion of one of Lithuania’s key strategic projects of the past decade. The ceremony at the Jauniūnai Gas Compressor Station, not far from Vilnius, was attended by Presidents Gitanas Nausėda of Lithuania, Andrzej Duda of Poland and Egils Levits of Latvia, and European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, as well as the Baltic and Polish ministers responsible for energy, and top executives from the Lithuanian and Polish gas transmission system operators that implemented the project. GIPL started operating after midday on May 1, when the first physical and commercial gas flows were transmitted via the new gas link. Completed in Lithuania early this year, the 508-kilometre pipeline has linked the Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Finnish gas markets to the rest of the EU.
Sauce maker signs deal to sell stake in Kaliningrad plant
Daumantai LT, a Lithuanian producer of mayonnaises and other sauces and condiments, said on Friday, May 6, that it has signed initial agreements to divest its 65 percent stake in the Agroprodukt sauce factory in Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad. Daumantai LT is selling shares in KL Food Group BV, a Dutch-registered firm that owns 65 percent of shares in Agroprodukt. Saulius Grinkevičius, Daumantai LT’s shareholder and CEO, said that the letters of intent with potential investors were signed on Wednesday, May 4, adding that the deal could be closed within six to eight weeks. He would not name the buyers or disclose other terms of the deal. Daumantai LT said in April that it did not control the Kaliningrad company and could not close it down, so it was looking for a buyer of the stake.
Week in Lithuania: Cabinet approves easier hiring of third-country nationals, Poland-Lithuania gas link inaugurated
