NATO has the means to destroy air defence and missile bases in Russia’s Kaliningrad region, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stated, BNS reported. Speaking in an interview with Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Budrys said that “we must show the Russians that we can penetrate the little fortress they have built in Kaliningrad,” LETA reported. Also, he…
Leaders of NATO and the EU expressed full support for the Baltic States after Russian threats, ERR reported. Russia accused the Baltic States of allowing Ukrainian drone strikes from their territory, threatening retaliation. NATO secretary general Mark Rutte called the Russian accusations “absolutely ridiculous,” while European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated that the…
The government of North Macedonia has decided to open an embassy in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Media Information Agency reports. The embassy will represent Macedonia’s interests across the three Baltic States. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision and reaffirmed Lithuania’s support for Macedonia’s EU membership, BNS reported. Lithuania and Macedonia established diplomatic relations in…
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed that Ukraine was planning to attack Russia from the territory of the Baltic States, Baltic News Network reported. SVR claimed that Ukrainian soldiers had already been deployed to five military bases in Latvia and threatened Latvia with “just retribution.” Russia’s UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, repeated the claims and threats…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda supports discussions on changing the country’s constitution to allow hosting nuclear weapons in the country, BNS reports. The presence of allied nuclear weapons could serve as an appropriate and proportionate deterrent against armed aggression from hostile states, Nauseda argued. Juozas Olekas, speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, stated that such…
The European Commission has approved an additional EUR 153mn in funding for Lithuania under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), BNS reports. The funds are due to be disbursed in July 2026. So far, Lithuania has received EUR 2.69bn under its national recovery plan. Lithuania will submit its final RRF payment request in September…
A suspected Ukrainian military drone crashed in northern Lithuania in the early evening of 17 May 2026, LRT reports. The National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) said that the drone crashed in a field near a village in the Utena district. According to the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGS), military radars failed to detect the drone, and…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda denied that the US was pressuring Lithuania to reopen transit shipments of fertilisers from Belarus, BNS reported. He stressed that Belarusian fertilisers were under EU sanctions and insisted that there were no grounds to lift the sanctions. Earlier, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary group of…
Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service (FNTT) carried out searches at the homes and in the offices of MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis, leader of the far-right populist party, Dawn of Nemunas (PPNA), and another PPNA MP, Daiva Petkeviciene, BNS reported. FNTT also searched PPNA’s party headquarters in Vilnius. The investigation focuses on whether the two MPs committed…