Lithuania’s Vilnius Regional Court has found Lithuanian lawyer Mantas Danielius guilty of spying for Belarus, ELTA reports. The court sentenced him to nine years in prison. The ruling is subject to appeal. The investigation found that Danielius had spied on the exiled Belarusian opposition in Lithuania and passed on the information to a journalist at…
The Latvian government will propose amendments that would allow soldiers and internal affairs officers to continue in service while receiving retirement pension, BNS reports. Also, the government will propose amendments allowing people aged over 40 years to join professional service in the military or internal affairs. At present, only citizens aged 18-40 years are eligible…
Lithuania is interested in the possible use of next-generation small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology, Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys announced, BNS reports. He suggested that such reactors could use spent and recycled fuel from Lithuania’s decommissioned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (IAE). The minister was speaking after a meeting with the Italian nuclear technology company, newcleo….
Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste welcomed the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) decision to postpone its planned mission to Russia indefinitely, BNS reports. Earlier, the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as Poland urged the IMF to reconsider its decision to resume consultations with Russia. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Skaiste noted that it…
The Russian and Chinese social media networks, Telegram and TikTok, are being used widely to spread content that poses risks to Latvia’s national security, according to the State Security Service (VDD), BNS reports. Unwanted content on the platforms includes disinformation, propaganda, and recruitment to criminal activity. Moreover, the platforms fail to monitor or delete such…
Estonia ranks among the world’s top nations in cyber security, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union, BNS reports. The index assessed progress on digital security measures in terms of legal, organisational, technical, capacity-building, and cooperation efforts. The report pointed to Estonia’s robust cyber security legislation and regulation, effective organisational…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has submitted to parliament a proposal to revoke three treaties with Russia and Belarus on economic cooperation, BNS reports. Nauseda proposed denouncing treaties on the promotion and protection of investments with Belarus and Russia as well as a treaty to avoid double taxation with Russia. Lithuania signed all three treaties in…
The Lithuanian government plans to allocate 3% of GDP to defence in the 2025 draft budget, Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste told Ziniu Radijas, BNS reports. However, if the economic indicators allowed, the government could borrow more for specific defence needs, she added. The minister noted that the projected 3% growth of GDP in 2025 would…
US technology company Google has removed altogether 18 Belarusian radio and TV channels from its YouTube video platform following a request from the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (LRTK), BNS reports. LRTK said that the accounts were directly linked to the Belarusian state broadcaster, Belteleradiocompany (BTRC), which is under EU sanctions. LRTK had made…