The EU is preparing new sanctions against Belarus, following repeated incursions of smuggler balloons from Belarus into Lithuania, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced, BNS reports. Earlier, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys urged the EU not to allow the Belarusian regime to blackmail and escape its international isolation and have sanctions lifted, ELTA…
Lithuania has lifted flight restrictions after disruptions caused by smuggler balloons from neighbouring Belarus, BNS reports. Saulius Batavicius, CEO of air navigation provider Oro Navigacija, said that around 60 balloons were detected during the shutdown, practically blocking access to Vilnius International Airport. The airport was shut down for almost 11 hours. Batavicius noted that the…
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Kestutis Budrys, hoped that “significant progress” be made in EU membership talks with Ukraine by the first half of 2027, BNS reported. He warned that if full negotiations did not begin by 2027 and were not completed in 2027 or early 2028, Ukraine’s EU accession would be “almost unrealistic” by 2030. Budrys…
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, met with his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts on a working visit to Riga and Vilnius, LSM reports. The foreign ministers discussed bilateral cooperation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze expressed hope for more permanent solutions in Israel’s relations with Lebanon…
Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) has reported a sharp rise in secondary migration via Latvia, BNS reports. Altogether 352 irregular migrants who entered Latvia from Belarus were detained in Lithuania and Poland in the first half of 2025, which was up 2.5 times from 140 in the same period of 2024. Most of the…
Lithuanian officials expressed strong support for Ukraine after an argument between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, BNS reported. “Ukraine, you will never walk alone,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stated, while Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas reassured Ukraine of Lithuania’s friendship. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stressed that Europe’s…
Lithuania is “not taking either side” in the dispute over Greenland’s sovereignty, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stated, BNS reports. Earlier, US President Donald Trump threatened to take control of the island by force. Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark. Budrys noted that Lithuania, Denmark, and the US were “all allies, bound by both long-standing…
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called for a “strong and decisive” response to attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, BNS reports. Speaking during a meeting with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Budrys urged to expand NATO patrols, impose sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet, and revise navigation rules in the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile,…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has approved the country’s new cabinet of ministers, BNS reports. He described the incoming centre-left government as more capable than the outgoing centre-right government of Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) will hold the post of prime minister and will have nine ministers in the new government,…