Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, met with his Georgian counterpart, Ilia Darchiashvili, in Vilnius on 11 July 2023, BNS reports. The two ministers discussed the regional security situation and Georgia’s EU membership prospects. Landsbergis noted that Georgia (Sakartvelo) was a NATO partner resisting Russia’s imperialist ambitions and hybrid threats. He urged Georgia to make full…
Latvia’s new president, Edgars Rinkevics, has appointed his chief policy advisers and aides, LSM reports. Gunda Reire, parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will become head of the presidential chancellery. The president’s chief legal adviser is Kristine Licis, who has served as Latvia’s representative in international institutions. Edvins Severs will continue as the…
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.
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…
The cost of Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine far outweighs the cost of stopping it, Jonatan Vseviov, secretary general of Estonia’s Foreign Ministry, stated. Speaking in an interview with Estonian World, Vseviov said that Estonia’s policy was to push Russia back into Russia, adding that every country can do their part to help stop Russian…
The Nordic and Baltic countries and Poland expect Sweden’s membership of NATO to increase security in the Baltic Sea region, The Baltic Times reports. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Sweden was joining NATO as a “motivated partner,” after 200 years of non-alignment. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö reiterated that Finland’s membership of NATO was…
The threat from Russia is and will remain real, and all NATO allies must understand and take it “extremely seriously,” Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking at the opening debate of a NATO conference in Vilnius, Kallas noted that all allies contributed 2% of GDP to defence in 1988 because…
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…