The number of foreign students in Lithuania has increased ten times over ten years, LRT reports. Foreign students account for just over 10% of all students at Lithuanian universities, and the number is rising every year. Most of them are from India, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Israel. The number of foreigners is highest in medical…
Lithuania is deploying permanent counter-mobility measures on parts of its border with Russia’s Kaliningrad (Königsberg) region, LRT reports. The installations include barriers on the Queen Louise Bridge separating Panemune in Lithuania and Sovetsk on the Russian side to stop the movement of hostile vehicles. Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas said that the government planned to spend…
Police in Lithuania have recorded several acts of vandalism targeting Belarusians living in Vilnius recently, BNS reports. A message, “No place for Belarusian parasites here,” was painted in red on the street outside the Dapamoga refugee shelter. Also, windows of a Belarusian museum and a chapel where Belarusians usually pray were smashed. Belarusian opposition leader…
Lithuania’s Vilnius Regional Court has told the prosecutor to ask the European Parliament to strip MEP Petras Grazulis of his parliamentary immunity, BNS reports. Earlier, Grazulis was charged with expressing contempt for members of the LGBT community. The case was put on hold after he was elected MEP. In May 2022, after the Lithuanian parliament,…
Lithuania should spend at least 3.5% of its GDP on defence each year, President Gitanas Nauseda stated, BNS reports. He said that military spending should be increased “year after year” to implement plans to modernise the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGP) and host a full German brigade in the country. Meanwhile, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian…
The Icelandic low-cost air carrier, Fly Play (PLAY), will increase the frequency of flights between Reykjavik and the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to twice a week as of the middle of May 2025, Lithuania’s state-owned airport operator, Lietuvos Oro Uostai (LTOU), announced, BNS reports. Currently, the company flies the route once a week. CEO Einar Örn…
The National Public Prosecutor’s Office of Poland has named three Belarusian nationals suspects in the hijacking of a Ryanair flight in May 2021, BNS reports. The Belarusian Air Force forced the Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius in Lithuania to land in Minsk. Belarusian authorities then arrested two opposition activists onboard. The three suspects held…
Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission (VRK) has completed registration for the parliamentary elections in October 2024, BNS reports. Altogether 1,740 candidates will run for 141 seats in the parliament, the Seimas. Half of the MPs will be elected through party lists that clear the 5% threshold. Altogether 15 party lists have been registered. In addition, 700…
Lithuania seeks to attract more flights to the seaside resort of Palanga, BNS reports. The Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economy, and the Klaipeda Region Association (AKR) have agreed to raise public funds for increasing traffic at Palanga International Airport (POU). AKR unites the seven municipalities in the Klaipeda county. The goal is to…