Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) has found several tunnels used to smuggle irregular migrants from Belarus into Lithuania, LRT reports. Speaking in an interview with 15min, VSAT commander Rustamas Liubajevas said that migrants were increasingly using tunnels and caves to cross the border. VSAT discovered the first tunnels in 2025. Digging such tunnels would…
Lithuania’s first prime minister after the restoration of the country’s independence, Kazimira Prunskiene, has died at the age of 83, BNS reports. She joined the Lithuanian Communist Party in 1980, was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, and helped establish the country’s pro-independence movement, Sajudis. She was appointed prime minister…
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has proposed expanding national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens, BNS reports. Under the proposed draft legislation, Russian and Belarusian individuals and organisations would be barred from public cultural or sports events in Lithuania if they have operated in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, directly or indirectly support the war against Ukraine, or…
Around 5,000 third‑country nationals come to Estonia every year for seasonal work, mostly on farms, according to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), ERR reports. Most seasonal workers come from Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, India, and Georgia. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many seasonal workers came from Belarus as well, but Estonia has since…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has proposed stricter rules on migration, BNS reports. Under the proposal, labour migrants would be required to leave Lithuania for at least six months after every two years of work. Also, the labour migrant quota would include not only new migrants but also those already in Lithuania. Skirmantas Bikelis, senior research…
New EU sanctions have forced the Russian-owned supermarket chain, Mere, to close down its discount stores in Latvia and Lithuania, LETA reports. The EU’s latest package of sanctions against Russia lists the companies operating the Mere chain, and their majority owner, Russian businessman Sergey Shnayder. They were sanctioned for supporting activities that undermine Ukraine’s territorial…
The party congress of Lithuania’s governing coalition member, the Union of Democrats for Lithuania (DSVL), has elected MEP Virginijus Sinkevicius as the party chairman for a four-year term, BNS reports. Sinkevicius defeated Health Minister Linas Kukuraitis soundly in the leadership vote. Sinkevicius has served as DSVL’s interim chairman since April 2026, following the resignation of…
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys criticised concessions to Russia in the EU’s latest sanctions package, BNS reported. He lamented that EU sanctions policy decisions were “increasingly driven by the economic interests of member states,” limiting the EU’s ability to increase pressure on Russia and weakening the impact of sanctions overall. Earlier, Lithuania’s EU ambassador, Nerijus…
Lithuania is drawing up a contingency plan in the event that Latvia’s national airline, airBaltic, reduces flights or withdraws entirely from Lithuania, Transport Minister Juras Taminskas announced, BNS reports. Earlier, Latvian Finance Minister Maris Kucinskis said that airBaltic would likely need to reduce its operations. Taminskas said that a sudden suspension of airBaltic’s flights would…
