The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) denied residence to almost 36,000 foreigners in the first eight months of 2024 after the introduction of tighter rules on immigration, according to the Ministry of Interior, BNS reports. LMD received altogether 67,175 residence permit applications. The number of applications to work in Lithuania from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and…
The Latvian government plans to restrict the ability of Russian citizens to buy land in Latvia, LETA reports. The ruling three-party coalition has agreed on the plan conceptually, following a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture. The government will analyse the example of similar draft legislation in Finland. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze has discussed…
Estonia’s exports of goods totalled over EUR 1.3bn at current prices in July 2024, which was up 5% from the same period of 2023, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Meanwhile, imports of goods totalled nearly EUR 1.7bn, which was up 1% from a year earlier. Estonia’s trade deficit thus amounted to EUR…
Symbols supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine have appeared on a number of properties in Lithuania’s port city of Klaipeda, according to local police, BNS reports. The letter Z was painted on three cars, on doors, walls, and windows of several buildings, on billboards, and on a church bell. The display of Russian war symbols is…
Lithuanian mobile telecommunications operator TELE2 was the market leader in mobile voice services in the second quarter of 2024, according to the Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT), Telecompaper reported. TELE2’s market share stood at 45.9% in terms of SIMs used for mobile voice services. The company had over 2 million subscribers, which was up 1.8% from…
Some Lithuanian nationals have joined Russian occupation forces in Ukraine, LRT reports. At least five Lithuanian citizens are known to be fighting for Russia against Ukraine, 15min reports. Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas confirmed that there was “definitely more than one” Lithuanian fighting on the Russian side. He said that the persons were known to Lithuania’s…
Lithuanian news agency ELTA has signed a cooperation agreement with Taiwan’s national news agency, Central News Agency (CNA), Focus Taiwan reports. The news agencies agreed to share content free of charge. ELTA is CNA’s first official partner in the Baltic region. CNA’s editor-in-chief, Chris Wang, said that the cooperation between the two news agencies reflected…
Lithuanian authorities have developed a plan to protect the country’s cultural heritage in the event of war, BNS reports. The National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) presented the plan to the culture committee of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, in a closed meeting. NKVC director Vilmantas Vitkauskas said that the plan would be tested during a…
The number of foreign students in Lithuania has increased ten times over ten years, LRT reports. Foreign students account for just over 10% of all students at Lithuanian universities, and the number is rising every year. Most of them are from India, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Israel. The number of foreigners is highest in medical…