President hinted that Lithuania must spend 5.5% of GDP on defence to create division by 2030; court awards Clint Eastwood 250 000 euros
Foreign minister calls for international response to Belarus’ presidential election
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys on Friday, the 27th of December, called for an international response to next year’s Belarusian presidential election. Budrys made the statement on Friday after meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, according to the Foreign Ministry. Lithuania’s top diplomat emphasized the need for a strong international response to the 26th of January “event organized by the regime to re-elect Alexander Lukashenko”. He also called for continuing the sanctions policy and ramping up support for democratic forces in Belarus.
Five candidates to vie for HU-LCD party leader
Five candidates are in the running for the position of chairperson of the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD), the party announced on Friday, the 27th of December. The five candidates are Laurynas Kasčiūnas and Arvydas Anušauskas, both former defence ministers; Radvilė Morkunaitė-Mikulenienė, a former education, science and sport minister now serving as the party’s interim chairwoman; MP Žygimantas Pavilionis; and Daivaras Rybakovas, the chairman of the Jurbarkas branch. Kasčiūnas’ candidacy has been proposed 65 times by party branches, more than any other candidate except former Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who declined to run in the election. Morkūnaitė-Mikulenienė has been proposed 29 times, Pavilionis 21 times, Anušauskas six times, and Rybakovas once. Friday afternoon was the deadline for candidates to decide whether to stand in the election.
President says cable failures in the Baltic Sea not “coincidences”
A failure of a submarine power cable between Finland and Estonia no longer seems like a coincidence, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday, the 26th of December. “Damaged critical undersea infrastructure power cables linking Finland and Estonia show us the increasing frequency of cable disruptions in the Baltic Sea,” he said in an X post on Thursday adding that “it no longer seems like a coincidence”. On Christmas Day, the Estlink 2 submarine cable that carries electricity from Finland to Estonia was disconnected from the grid, just over a month after two telecommunications cables were severed in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea. According to the president, “protecting maritime infrastructure must be raised both at the NATO level and bilaterally as a key priority in Baltic Sea cooperation”. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said that the growing number of such incidents should be a warning to NATO and the European Union (EU).
Lithuania must spend 5.5% of GDP on defence to create division by 2030
Lithuania needs to allocate 5.5% of its GDP to defence to establish a military division by 2030, President Gitanas Nausėda said on Wednesday, the 25h of December. “We really need 5.5% of the gross domestic product to implement the program as planned by 2030. This isn’t just about the division, its formation in terms of people, but also about armaments, reserves, infrastructure. Many things accompany the creation of a division,” he told TV3 news. Nausėda has said earlier that Lithuania could consider disregarding European fiscal discipline rules to ensure the division is fully developed in the Lithuanian Armed Forces within the timeframe. Defence officials estimate that, at current funding levels, Lithuania’s military division would only achieve full operational capability by 2036-2040, rather than 2030 as originally planned.
Lithuanian EU commissioner expects NATO to agree on defence funding in 2025
Andrius Kubilius, Lithuanian EU Commissioner responsible for defence and space, believes that next year’s NATO summit in the Netherlands will agree on increased funding for defence. “How much money to put in is up for debate. I think that there will be an agreement on higher national investment, instead of the current 2%, at next year’s NATO summit. We can speculate, but it is up to NATO to agree on what the percentage should be,” the EU commissioner told reporters in Vilnius on Monday, the 23rd of December. Thirty-two NATO countries set a minimum defence spending floor of 2% of GDP at the NATO Summit in Vilnius last year.
Lithuanian court awards Clint Eastwood 250 000 euros for illegitimate use of image
The Klaipeda Regional Court has partially upheld a lawsuit filed by Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood over the unauthorized use of his image to advertise CBD products, awarding him 250,000 euros in damages from the former CEO of a now-liquidated Lithuanian company. Eastwood was also awarded interest and proportionate litigation costs, the court said in a statement on Monday, the 23rd of December. According to the court, Mediatonas, the Lithuanian company headed by the defendant, Giedrius Bučinskas, conducted a cannabidiol (CBD) product advertising campaign that unlawfully used Eastwood’s name, likeness, and fame, publishing articles without his consent. This marked the second time the Klaipėda Regional Court examined the case. Initially, the court dismissed the claims filed by Eastwood and Garrapata because they had failed to prove their status as creditors of Mediatonas. The actor and his company then sought 50 000 euros in damages. However, the Lithuanian Court of Appeal returned the case to the first-instance court for re-examination. In October 2021, the Los Angeles Federal Court ordered Mediatonas to pay Eastwood and Garrapata 6.1 million US dollars (5.26 million euros).
Prime Minister meets Dutch counterpart
Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas met with his Dutch counterpart, Dick Schoof, in Rukla on Tuesday, the 24th of December, expressing optimism that NATO leaders will agree on a target of at least 3% of GDP for defence at their next summit. “NATO countries’ focus and investment in defence must match the threats near us, currently held at bay at the cost of Ukraine’s enormous sacrifice. That is why my government is committed to defence funding of at least 3.5% of GDP and we will exceed this figure in next year’s budget,” Paluckas said in a press release on Tuesday. Paluckas said that Lithuania highly appreciates the Netherlands’ contribution to the security of the Baltic region and the Alliance as a whole. He specifically highlighted the deployment of the Netherlands’ Patriot air defence system in Lithuania for an exercise last July.
Lithuania to spend 15 million euros on surveillance system upgrade on the border
Lithuania plans to use 15 million euros provided by the European Commission (EC) for upgrading electronic border surveillance systems at four frontier stations on the country’s border with Russia. The Interior Ministry said on Monday, the 23rd of December, that the systems will be upgraded at the Rociškės Frontier Station (the stretch of 22.4 km), the Vištytis Frontier Station (34.4 km), the Viešvilė Frontier Station (30.6 km), and the Plaškiai Frontier Station (25.9 km). The State Border Guard Service (SBGS) plans to start the upgrade next year and complete it in 2027, the ministry said adding that in its application to the Commission, Lithuania also requested money for nine other frontier stations, but no funding was received for upgrading the systems.
Seimas approves renewed agreement with Latvia on emergency medical services
The Seimas of Lithuania on Monday, the 23rd of December, approved a renewed agreement between Lithuania and Latvia on emergency medical services in the border area. The parliament voted unanimously in favour of the agreements last week. The health ministers of the two neighbouring countries signed the renewed agreement in July. With the agreement ratified, the ambulance services of both countries will conclude a supplementary agreement setting out the exact procedures for requesting and providing assistance, as well as the procedures for registering and forwarding calls received from the border area.