Last week, Lithuania rolled out new €41 million military aid package to Ukraine; President paid visit to Kyiv
Army, border guards start joint exercise
Lithuanian border guards and the Armed Forces on Friday, the 25th of August, held a joint exercise Cover–2023 in the so-called Dieveniškės Loop in Šalčininkai District in Vilnius County. The Interior Ministry says that two scenarios are planned for the exercise. The first scenario concerns illegal migration, “in case of some unusual situations”, and the second involves training on what action to take in the event of “a certain military hybrid threat” at the state border.
Lithuania rolls out new €41 million military aid package to Ukraine
Lithuania approved a new package of military aid to Ukraine, worth 41 million euros, the Defence Ministry reported on Thursday, the 24th of August. According to the ministry, the package includes Carl-Gustaf ammo, rifles, maritime surveillance radar kits, 5.56 mm cartridges, generators, anti-drones and other support. According to the ministry, Lithuania handed over Mi-8 helicopters, L-70 anti-aircraft guns with ammunition, M113 armoured personnel carriers, millions of rounds of ammunition, and grenade launcher ammunition to Ukraine in the first seven months of this year.
Lithuanian president says Lithuania is no safer after Prigozhin’s demise
The ostensible death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Wagner mercenary group, changes little and does not improve the security situation in Lithuania, President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday, the 24th of August. Meanwhile, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, conservative MP and chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence, said that the internal challenges Wagner will face after the death of its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin will divert the military company’s attention away from Lithuania.
President pays visit to Kyiv
President Gitanas Nausėda on Wednesday, the 23rd of August, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss the situation on the frontline, military support and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration. Nausėda underlined that Lithuania has approved a long-term military assistance plan for Ukraine worth around 200 million euros. It is expected that Lithuania-supplied NASAMS launchers will reach Ukraine as early as in September. The Lithuanian leader said that the decisions taken at the NATO Summit in Vilnius should accelerate the process of rapprochement between NATO and Ukraine.
Ministers says Vilnius-Riga train service may start next year
Transport Minister Marius Skuodis believes that a passenger train service between Vilnius and Riga can commence in 2024. He did not, however, provide any details when speaking on the issue on Wednesday, the 23rd of August, saying that Lithuania would like to see a passenger service from Vilnius to Riga running through Šiauliai, a city in northern Lithuania.
Lithuania exerts to prevent suspicious Belarusians from entering
Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday, the 23rd of August, that he has no information that would prompt acting – impose additional restrictions on Belarusian citizens entering Lithuania. In his words, the existing procedure ensures that individuals raising national security suspicions are not allowed to enter the country. A total of 1 164 Belarusians and Russians have been deemed a threat to national security following the introduction of a special questionnaire for Russian and Belarusian citizens in late 2022. Lithuania has a law in place on restrictive measures for Russian and Belarusian citizens, but the latter are subject to fewer of them. However, Lithuanian politicians got back to discussion on putting the Belarusians on part with the Russians after Belarus allowed the Wagner mercenary group to enter the country following its failed mutiny in Russia.
Teachers in Lithuania set for a warning strike
Teachers in Lithuania will stage a warning strike on the 15th of September and, if the results, including higher wages, are not achieved, they will also walk out on the 29th of September, the Lithuanian Education Employees’ Trade Union announced on Tuesday, the 22nd of August. The Education, Science and Sport Minister says he respects the trade union’s decision.
Lithuania supports proposal to punish EU sanction violators
Lithuania supports the proposal to punish those violating EU sanctions, Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska said on Tuesday, the 22nd of August, after meeting with her Estonian counterpart Kalle Laanet. The two ministers discussed legal cooperation and legal assistance, possible ways to consolidate the Baltic states’ legal moves in the context of the military aggression against Ukraine, and also talked about restrictions Russian citizens, the Justice Ministry said. The Lithuanian and Estonian justice ministers agreed to strengthen the Baltic states’ position at the level of cooperation within the EU as the situation in Ukraine has a major impact on EU policy-making, especially in the field of justice, the statement reads. Lithuania also supports the draft directive on asset recovery and confiscation, which aims to establish clear rules on asset tracing and identification, promoting cross-border cooperation, Dobrowolska said.
Language watchdog chief rebuked for ambiguous statements
A panel set up by the culture minister has examined the statements recently made in public by Audrius Valotka, who leads Lithuania’s State Language Inspectorate, and decided to admonish him over the controversy, Culture Minister Simonas Kairys said during a news conference on Tuesday, the 22nd of August. In mid-July, the minister set up a panel to assess the statements made by Valotka during an LRT radio discussion on Polish inscriptions in Vilnius District, during which he said that it didn’t matter that some residents in Vilnius District wanted inscriptions in their native – Polish – language. “So what if they do. The Russians, let’s say, they want Russian inscriptions in Donbas, they probably don’t want Ukrainian ones. This is an occupation zone where there has been a fierce Polonization of Lithuanians, so to mark the whole territory with Polish inscriptions, I think it would lead to fierce resistance,” Valotka then said. Such statements provoked outrage from Vilnius District Mayor Robert Duchnevič and Polish Ambassador to Lithuania Konstanty Radziwill who asked the culture minister to assess the statements by the head of Lithuania’s State Language Inspectorate.
President, PM, Foreign minister on top of list of most influential politicians
Lithuanian experts see Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, President Gitanas Nausėda and Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, leader of the conservative Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats, as the country’s most influential politicians, according to a survey published by the Delfi news website on Monday, the 21st of August. Next in the annual ranking is Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the speaker of the parliament and the leader of the Liberal Movement, followed by Lithuania’s first post-independence leader Vytautas Landsbergis. The top ten also includes Lithuania’s former presidents Valdas Adamkus and Dalia Grybauskaitė, Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas, ex-Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, chairman of the opposition Democrats “For Lithuania”, and Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, chairwoman of the opposition Social Democratic party.
Ministry looks forward to pulling out from convention
Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas says that Lithuania ought to pull out from the Convention on Cluster Munitions. “Lithuania became the 55th country to join the ban on cluster munitions. We should withdraw from this convention in order to acquire and use (cluster munitions). I hope this will be done,” the minister said in a Facebook post. The Convention, ratified by Lithuania in 2011, bans the use, production and acquisition of cluster munitions and lays down specific obligations to address the humanitarian consequences of these weapons.
Week in Lithuania: teacher trade union announces it will stage a warning strike, President reflects on Prigozhin’s demise
