South Korea will open an embassy in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced, Yonhap reports. Lithuania opened an embassy in Seoul in 2021. Yoon met with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on 12 July 2023 on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius. Yoon called for expanding cooperation with Lithuania, particularly…
Parties in Latvia’s Riga City Council are still at odds with each other, acting mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) admitted, LETA reports. Following a meeting between New Unity and the combined faction of Movement For and the Progressives (PP), Kirsis said that “the spirit of compromise and cooperation had yet to be born on a…
Latvia’s new president, Edgars Rinkevics, is “more people-oriented” than his predecessor, Egils Levits, Juris Rozenvalds, head of the Social and Political Studies Institute at the University of Latvia, said, LETA reports. Rozenvalds pointed out that Rinkevics had a sense of humour and was not as “preachy” as Levits. He noted that Rinkevics is popular among…
Russian President Vladimir Putin was wrong when he thought that the war in Ukraine would break NATO unity, US President Joe Biden said in a speech at Lithuania’s Vilnius University on 12 July 2023, LETA reports. “Putin thought that democratic leaders would be weak, but he thought wrong,” Biden stated. He assured that the US…
Estonia does not need a permanent NATO brigade, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur stated, ERR reports. He noted that Estonia already has more than 2,000 allied troops permanently stationed in the country. Estonian society would not be prepared for the construction of another large military training area in the country, he argued. Also, an additional deployment…
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, met with his Georgian counterpart, Ilia Darchiashvili, in Vilnius on 11 July 2023, BNS reports. The two ministers discussed the regional security situation and Georgia’s EU membership prospects. Landsbergis noted that Georgia (Sakartvelo) was a NATO partner resisting Russia’s imperialist ambitions and hybrid threats. He urged Georgia to make full…
Organisers of a campaign in Lithuania to call ordinary people in Russia and discuss the war in Ukraine has been suspended, following a public outcry, LRT reports. Locals organised to cover posters of the campaign in Vilnius. Tomas Balzekas, head of Lithuania’s 15min news website and news agency BNS, said that the “Call Russia” campaign…
Latvia’s new president, Edgars Rinkevics, has appointed his chief policy advisers and aides, LSM reports. Gunda Reire, parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will become head of the presidential chancellery. The president’s chief legal adviser is Kristine Licis, who has served as Latvia’s representative in international institutions. Edvins Severs will continue as the…
Lithuania wishes to agree on a permanent deployment of a German brigade “as soon as possible,” Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas stated, BNS reports. Speaking after a meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in Vilnius, Anusauskas said that Lithuania wanted Germany to deploy the brigade before the end of 2023. He stressed the need to…
