The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has appointed Lithuania’s Gedgaudas Norkunas as one of the EU prosecutors, the Justice Ministry announced, BNS reports. Previously, Norkunas served as a European delegated prosecutor. The new EU prosecutors will take up their posts on 29 July 2023 for a term in office of three years. Half of of the…
Housing prices in the Baltic States rose the fastest in Lithuania in the first quarter of 2023, according to Eurostat data, BNS reports. Compared to a year earlier, housing prices rose by 13.1% in Lithuania, which was the second-highest increase in the EU. Housing prices in Estonia rose by 9.2% and in Latvia by 6%…
Finland’s NATO membership opens up new opportunities for defence and security cooperation between Estonia and Finland, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking during Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s official visit to Estonia, Kallas said that Finland’s accession has bolstered NATO as a whole and the security of the Baltic Sea…
Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, called for revising existing national sanctions laws to impose stricter entry restrictions on Belarusian citizens, LRT reports. Speaking in an interview with BNS, Nauseda cited concerns over the potential presence of mercenaries from Russia’s private military company, Wagner Group, in Belarus. Parliamentary speaker Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen argued that there was no need…
NATO has agreed on new regional defence plans for the Baltic States and Poland, but is still finalising the documents of the forthcoming summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Lithuania’s Defence Minister, Arvydas Anusauskas, announced, BNS reports. He said that some countries are still trying to hold the documents until agreement is reached on completely…
NATO has sent more warships to the Baltic Sea ahead of the defence alliance’s Vilnius summit, Giedrius Premeneckas, commander of the Lithuanian Navy, announced, BNS reports. Premeneckas said that allied ships ensured air surveillance, maritime situation surveillance, and interoperability. The allied naval force includes German, Italian, Polish, and US ships. The NATO summit will take…
Lithuania’s state-owned railway company, Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (LTG), generated revenue of EUR 434.1mn in 2022, which was down 6.7% from EUR 465.1mn in 2021, LRT reports. The company’s annual net profit amounted to EUR 1.2mn, which was down almost 20 times from EUR 23.5mn a year earlier. LTG’s freight volume totalled 31mn tonnes in 2022, which…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has begun discussing a proposal from the parliamentary speaker, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, to seek the Constitutional Court’s opinion on the compatibility of the Istanbul Convention with the country’s Constitution, BNS reports. The corresponding draft resolution passed the first reading in parliament. The final vote on the resolution will take place in…
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that there was no need to impose identical restrictions on Russians and Belarusians in response to the possible relocation of Russian mercenary group Wagner Group to Belarus, BNS reports. Earlier, President Gitanas Nauseda criticised the decision of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, to override his veto and approve different…