Last week, Prosecutor sought arrest warrant for man who fled to Russia with infant; Lithuania summons Vatican’s rep over Pope’s remarks on Russia
One irregular migrant turned away on Lithuania’s border with Belarus
Lithuanian border guards on Thursday, the 31st of August, turned away one migrant attempting to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Friday, the 1st of September. A total of 1 597 irregular migrants have been barred from entering Lithuania from Belarus at non-designated places so far this year.
Lithuania asks NATO’s air chief for personal leadership in ramping up Baltic defence
Lithuania’s Defence Vice-Minister Žilvinas Tomkus on Thursday, the 31st of August, met with the Commander of NATO’s Allied Air Command (NATO AIRCOM), General James H. Hecker. During the meeting at the Lithuanian Air Force Air Base in Siauliai, the vice-minister asked for the commander’s personal leadership to achieve more frequent and ambitious deployments of air defence assets, including both fighter jets and ground-based air defence systems, or more realistic exercises in Lithuania and the region, the Defence Ministry said in a press release. The vice-minister stressed the need to mobilize Allied efforts to further strengthen NATO air and missile defence.
President calls on ministry not to question legality of teachers’ strike
President Gitanas Nausėda on Thursday, the 31st of August, called on the Education Ministry not to question the legality of a planned strike by teachers, saying he is ready to mediate in talks between the government and trade unions. The Lithuanian Education Employees Trade Union announced last week that it was withdrawing from the collective agreement with the ministry, accusing it of failure to deliver on its promises on teachers’ average salary. The trade union said it was calling a warning strike on the 15th of September, with a “real” strike to be held on the 29th of September if the action fails to produce the desired results. The trade union demands a 20 percent increase in teachers’ pay from September and a further 30 percent rise from January, and a reduction in class sizes. The Lithuanian Education and Science Trade Union has also announced its intention to strike if no agreement on its demands is reached in September.
FIFA legends vs Lithuanian legends match will take place in Kaunas
Kaunas will host a match between FIFA legends and Lithuanian football legends in late September, the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF) said on Thursday, the 31st of August. The major international event at Kaunas’ Darius and Girėnas Stadium is planned for the 30th of September, the eve of the LFF Cup final. The stellar line-up will include at least six world champions, like Marco Materazzi, Javier Mascherano, David Trezeguet, Youri Djorkaeff, Emmanuel Petit, Dida, Roque Junior, Ricardo Quaresma, Michel Salgado and Nuno Gomes. According to Kaunas Deputy Mayor Mantas Jurgutis, two years ago it was difficult to imagine an event of this caliber taking place in Lithuania’s second-biggest city. The municipality says it cannot yet say exactly how much it will contribute to the event which is organised to mark the centenary of Lithuania’s membership of FIFA. Tickets for both matches will cost from 19 euros.
Freedom Party chair sees fall session as last term to adopt same-sex civil union bill
The upcoming autumn session of the Seimas is the last session when a civil union bill aimed at legally regulating relations between same-sex partners in Lithuania can be adopted, Aušrinė Armonaitė, chairwoman of the Freedom Party that has initiated the bill, said on Wednesday, August 30. Viktorija Čmilytė Nielsen, the Speaker of the Seimas and the leader of the ruling Liberal Movement, insisted that the issue will be on the agenda of the fall session, but admitted that there is still no strong support for the civil union in the Seimas. In May, the civil union bill aimed at legally regulating relations between same-sex partners passed its second reading in the parliament by a narrow margin. Sixty members of the Seimas voted in favour, 52 against and three abstained. The bill will need a final vote in the parliament to be adopted. Currently, Lithuanian laws do not recognise either opposite-sex or same-sex civil partnerships. Several previous attempts to legalise civil partnerships fell through at an early stage of the parliamentary process.
Lithuania to invest 18 million in reconstruction of education infrastructure in Bucha
Lithuania will build a school in Bucha and invest 18 million euros in the reconstruction of educational infrastructure in the Ukrainian town. Out of this amount, 0.5 million euros will be invested in energy efficiency measures and granted from Climate Change Mitigation Program funds administered by the Environmental Project Management Agency (APVA), according to a press release published on Wednesday, the 30th of August. Once built, the modern school meeting the latest environmental requirements will be handed over free of charge to the municipality of Bucha. The building will be equipped with heat pumps, geothermal equipment and a 600 kW solar power plant. Up to 880 children will attend the school and kindergarten. The project is estimated to cost 18 million euros in total. The opening of the school is expected on the 1st of September, 2025.
Prosecutor seeks arrest warrant for man who’s fled to Russia with child
A Klaipėda district prosecutor has asked the court to issue an in absentia arrest warrant for a man who last weekend unlawfully took his baby daughter to Russia, Viktorija Jonuitė, a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General’s Office, said on Wednesday, the 30th of August, adding that the court’s decision was still pending. Media reports identify the suspected child abductor as Algirdas Švanys. The pre-trial investigation into the suspected child abduction was opened after the nine-month-old girl’s mother, who has custody of the child, complained to the Klaipeda district police last Sunday, the 26th of August, that the 37-year-old man had taken their daughter and failed to return her at the agreed time. It is believed that on the same day the man took his daughter across the Skirvytė River in the western district of Šilutė in a boat, thus crossing Lithuania’s border with Russia.
Lithuania summons Vatican’s rep for conversation over pope’s remarks on Russia
The Foreign Ministry invited Vatican’s representative in Lithuania for a conversation in the wake of Pope Francis’ statements in St. Petersburg praising the Russian nation. The pope told the group gathered in a Catholic church in St. Petersburg that “you are children of great Russia, of great saints, of kings, of Peter the Great, of Catherine II, of a Russian people of great culture and great humanity”, according to a video posted online. Following the pope’s statements, the Lithuanian Embassy to the Holy See published the arguments of the Apostolic Nunciature in Kyiv that it firmly rejects the aforementioned interpretations, as Pope Francis has never endorsed imperialistic notions. The embassy did not provide a diplomatic assessment from Lithuania. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a statement on the 29th of August saying the pontiff’s “off the cuff” remarks were intended to “encourage young people to preserve and promote what is positive in Russia’s great cultural and spiritual heritage”. The Kremlin, for its part, welcomed the pope’s remarks.
Seimas speaker says ‘no urgency’ to pass tax reform this year
The Seimas will not rush to pass the government’s proposed tax reform this year, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, said on Tuesday, the 29th of August. She believes that the tax reform is not an issue that could break the ruling coalition and that the parliament can debate the matter not only in its upcoming autumn session, but also in the next one starting in the spring of 2024. The speaker underlined that there is no aim to pass the tax reform this year, that is, before or along with the adoption of next year’s budget by the parliament. She does not think that the ruling coalition might crumble due to disagreements over the tax reform. The reform laws have been tabled to the Seimas as a package, but now individual bills can be discussed separately, according to the speaker. The speaker believes that the 2024 general election will not be an obstacle to adopting the reform. Opposition MPs say that the proposed changes will only increase taxes, rather than reforming the system.
Lithuania plans to close two more border checkpoints with Belarus
Lithuania plans to close two more checkpoints on its border with Belarus, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaitė said on Monday, the 28th of August, when meeting with her Baltic and Polish counterparts in Warsaw to discuss the security of the countries’ borders with Belarus. According to Bilotaitė, the decision to close two more checkpoints was taken in order to redirect capacities and reduce the scale of smuggling across the border.
Week in Lithuania: President calls on ministry not to question legality of teachers’ strike
