Latvia’s foreign trade turnover totalled EUR 17.93bn in the first five months of 2023, which was down EUR 718.4mn (3.9%) from the same period of 2022, according to provisional data from the Central Statistical Bureau, LSM reports. Exports totalled EUR 8.12bn, which was down EUR 281.2mn (3.3%) over a year. Imports totalled EUR 9.81bn, which…
Lithuania’s state-owned electricity supplier, Ignitis, will invest up to EUR 115mn in the development of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the Baltic States, GlobeNewswire reports. The investment will go towards acquiring EV charging stations. Ignitis plans to install up to 3,000 fast EV charging stations in the Baltic region by the end of…
One of Lithuania’s most popular news websites, 15min, was subjected to a targeted DDoS attack on 12 July 2023, BNS reports. Several other companies and municipal organisations in Lithuania were subjected to similar cyber attacks. The attacks coincided with a summit of NATO leaders in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
Lithuania wishes to agree on a permanent deployment of a German brigade “as soon as possible,” Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas stated, BNS reports. Speaking after a meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in Vilnius, Anusauskas said that Lithuania wanted Germany to deploy the brigade before the end of 2023. He stressed the need to…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed new security commitments from G7 countries, but noted that they were no substitute for NATO membership, BNS reports. Speaking at a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Zelensky said that the G7 security guarantees paved Ukraine’s way to NATO. He expressed confidence that Ukraine…
Supporters of Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion have put up “Crimea Beach Party” billboards during the NATO summit in Vilnius, BNS reports. The billboards at six intersections in Vilnius show two Ukrainian soldiers sitting on the beach under an umbrella while looking at the destroyed bridge across the Kerch Strait. The billboard campaign was…
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has appointed Devesh Uttam as India’s Ambassador to Lithuania, ANI reports. Currently, Uttam serves as joint secretary at the ministry. He will take up his new assignment shortly. India opened the embassy in Vilnius in April 2023.
Lithuania reopened the Medininkai checkpoint on the border with Belarus in the evening of 9 July 2023, the State Border Guard Service (VSAT) announced, BNS reports. VSAT closed the checkpoint on 7 July 2023 after Belarusian border guards refused to allow a Pakistani national back into Belarus. The Pakistani man was travelling on a bus…
The US may keep rotational forces in Lithuania beyond 2026, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced, BNS reports. Speaking after a meeting with US President Joe Biden, Nauseda revealed that he had heard “assurances of US flexibility” in meeting allied needs. Nauseda said that it was “realistic to expect” that the US troop presence in Lithuania…