Lithuania: EU commissioner quits post to take up EP seat

Lithuania’s EU commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevicius, will step down, having been elected to the European Parliament, BNS reports. He served as European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries since 2019. Sinkevicius has since been elected vice-president of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. Saulius Skvernelis, chairman of the opposition Union of Democrats…

Read More

Lithuania: Opposition party exits national defence agreement

Lithuania’s opposition Union of Democrats for Lithuania (DSVL) will withdraw from a national defence agreement signed by all parliamentary parties in July 2022, BNS reports. Under the deal, the parties pledged to keep defence spending above 2.5% of GDP and increase the number of military conscripts. DSVL announced its exit from the pact after the…

Read More

Lithuania: President criticises Defence Minister’s Facebook posts about German tanks

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda criticised Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas for sharing information on Lithuania’s plans to sign a letter of intent on the purchase of Leopard tanks from Germany, LRT reports. Nauseda said that the State Defence Council (VGT) had agreed that restricted information “should not be shared on Facebook right after the meeting.” He…

Read More