The three Baltic states have agreed to impose national sanctions against those who suppressed legitimate protests in Georgia, Civil Georgia reports. In their joint statement, the Baltic foreign ministers said that “opponents of democracy and violators of human rights are not welcome in our countries.” Meanwhile, all three Baltic presidents phoned their Georgian counterpart, Salome…
Trucks crossing Lithuania’s borders with Belarus and Russia will have to register in advance as of 1 December 2024, BNS reports. Drivers of heavy duty vehicles must now pre-register on the online booking system (EVIS) to cross the border through the remaining three checkpoints on the borders with Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region. The new…
Lithuania has introduced stricter rules on residence permit applications through external service providers as of 1 December 2024, BNS reports. From now on, only citizens of countries with an office of the external service provider can use their services. Citizens of other countries can apply for temporary residency permits at an office in another country…
The foreign ministers of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) will pay a visit to Moldova on 15 October 2024, BNS reports. The delegation will meet with Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi. The ministers will visit several regions in Moldova to show their support for Moldova’s EU accession, reform…
Lithuania’s main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP), hopes to form a new coalition government with two other opposition parties, the Union of Democrats for Lithuania (DSVL) and the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVZS), LRT reports. The three parties won 33 out of 70 seats in the first round of parliamentary…
A public petition in Latvia is collecting signatures to restrict or ban US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (former Twitter), in Latvia, BNS reports. The author of the legislative initiative, Gvido Grava, notes that an increasing volume of disinformation is being spread on X. He points out that X fails to comply with…
Lithuanians are voting in the first round of elections for the country’s parliament, the Seimas, LRT reports. Under the electoral system, a second round of voting in single-member constituencies where no candidate gets over 50% of votes will take place on 27 October 2024. Altogether 14 parties and 1 coalition of parties listed candidates for…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has passed a resolution designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, BNS reports. The Seimas is the first national parliament in the EU to declare IRGC a terrorist group. The resolution calls on the EU to add the IRGC to the union’s list of terrorist organisations…
Lithuanian authorities are investigating allegations that Russian opposition leader, businessman Leonid Nevzlin, was behind an attack against another exiled Russian opposition leader, Leonid Volkov, in Vilnius in March 2024, BNS reports. Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that the allegations made by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) were “serious,” but called on politicians to wait for the…