Photo: REUTERS/SCANPIX
Last week, the top news in Lithuania were the increase in the powers of authorities to curb war propaganda, Lithuania’s media watchdog urges Google to block banned TV apps, while 58 irregular migrants were turned away on border with Belarus.
Seimas Board bans MP from going to Ukraine to volunteer
The Board of the Seimas of Lithuania banned on Monday, March 21, MP Robertas Šarknickas, representing the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, to travel to Ukraine to volunteer. The board decided that the MP’s indefinite volunteering trip to Ukraine could not be considered a justifiable reason. Šarknickas expressed his regret over the Board decision and pointed out that the Latvian parliament had sent a member to defend Ukraine. Šarknickas said that he would not go to Ukraine without the Board’s permission.
Lithuania to set up Ukrainian refugee centre in Panevėžys
Lithuania will open one more Ukrainian war refugee centre in the country’s northern city of Panevėžys, and also a larger centre will be set up in Vilnius, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė confirmed on Monday, March 21. The minister also said preventive controls of buses and minibuses arriving from Poland had been introduced at the border to prevent human trafficking and to regulate the flow of incoming people. Lithuania has so far registered over 28,700 war refugees from Ukraine, including almost 12,400 minors, official statistics showed on Wednesday, March 23. Currently, registration centres for Ukrainian refugees operate in Alytus, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Marijampolė, Šiauliai and Vilnius.
Achema operates at half capacity, unable to sell fertilizers
Lithuania’s Jonava-based nitrogen fertilizer producer Achema, the country’s largest gas consumer, continues to operate at half capacity due to the recent sharp rise in gas prices, high fertilizer prices and a drop in fertilizer purchases, the company’s CEO Ramūnas Miliauskas told the parliamentary Seimas Committee on Economics on Wednesday, March 23. In September, Achema was forced to cut production due to a sharp rise in gas prices and only one of its two ammonia production units was open after the annual summer maintenance, and one of the two ammonia production units accounts for around 30 percent of the company’s total production. The company says there’s been no change so far.
Read also: Day 30 of war in Ukraine: Attack on Kyiv suburbs expected, prisoner swap frees Snake Island sailors
Lithuania to step up authorities’ powers to curb war propaganda
The Lithuanian government proposed on Wednesday, March 23, to extend the authorities’ powers to restrict information that incites hatred and violence or contains war propaganda through certain amendments to the Law on the Provision of Information to the Public. The amendments would give the inspector of journalist ethics new powers to issue binding instructions to Internet providers to remove or eliminate access to the prohibited information, which can only be done by police now. The inspector of journalists’ ethics would need a court warrant to suspend the activities of a media outlet. The Cabinet is asking the parliament to debate and vote on the proposed amendments under a fast-track procedure.
Lithuania’s media watchdog urges Google to geo-block banned TV apps
The Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (RTCL) said on Thursday, March 24, it has asked Google to apply geo-blocking to mobile apps of TV channels banned in Lithuania. The media watchdog has found that Google Play Store contains at least 38 Russian apps that can be used to watch propaganda TV channels, including those banned in Lithuania for incitement to war and ethnic hatred and spreading disinformation, and RT, a propaganda television channel banned in the European Union. In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the RTCL has suspended the reception of MIR24, RBK-TV, Planeta RTR, Rossiya 24, NTV Mir, Belarus 24, Pirmais Baltijas Kanals Lietuva (PBK) and TVCi in Lithuania over gross violations.
IT firms moving from Russia to Lithuania pose security risks
Plans by a large number of IT specialists to move from Russia to Lithuania pose national security risks as Russia’s IT sector is controlled by security services, Kęstutis Budrys, President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief national security adviser, said on Thursday, March 24. Budrys said the expected arrival of thousands of IT professionals from Russia and Belarus due to the war in Ukraine should not be seen in Lithuania as an opportunity to fill the market demand. Economy and Innovation Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė has said recently that thousands of IT professionals from Russia and Belarus are planning to come to Lithuania in the near future due to the war in Ukraine.
Lithuania allows riflemen union members to keep automatic guns at home
The Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, on Thursday, March 24, allowed volunteer soldiers and members of the Riflemen’s Union, a civilian paramilitary organization, to keep automatic guns at home and to use weapons or special means during patrols with police and border guards. The legislation passed with 119 votes in favour, none against and five abstentions. The current legislation allows volunteer soldiers and members of the Riflemen’s Union to purchase and keep semi-automatic category B and C weapons at home. Category A weapons are prohibited in civilian circulation.
Seimas speaker pays visit to Kyiv
Speaker of the Seimas o Lithuania Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen went to Kyiv on Thursday, March 24, visiting Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada together with her Latvian and Estonian counterparts. The Ukrainians are fighting not only for their freedom and sovereignty, but also for the freedom of the whole of Europe, Čmilytė-Nielsen said, adding that Europe, on its part, must now help Ukraine, providing both humanitarian and military aid, as well as through diplomatic means.
NATO’s top officer personally pledges prioritise eastern flank’s security
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has personally pledged to prioritise the strengthening of the Alliance’s eastern flank, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday, March 24. Speaking after an extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, he told reporters that a commitment had been reached to take steps to strengthen the protection of NATO’s borders in eastern Europe ahead of the Madrid summit in June.
Lithuania deters 58 irregular migrants away on border with Belarus
Lithuanian border guards have in the past 24 hours turned 58 migrants attempting to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Friday, March 25, pointing out it was the highest number of pushbacks this year. SBGS officers have prevented a total of 860 irregular migrants from entering Lithuania so far this year. This number is much higher in Latvia and Poland. Lithuanian border guards sent more than 8,100 people back to Belarus between last August, when they were given the right to deny entry to irregular migrants, and December. Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into Lithuania from Belarus last year.
Lithuania reports 3,938 new Covid-19 cases, 13 deaths
Lithuania recorded 3,938 new coronavirus infections and 13 deaths, including one child under 9, from Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, the country’s statistical office, Statistics Lithuania, announced on Friday, March 25. Some 3,314 of the new cases were primary, 619 were secondary and five were tertiary.
Week in Lithuania: Media watchdog urges Google to block banned TV apps, Seimas speaker visits Kyiv
