Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has invited the Vatican’s representative in Lithuania for a conversation after Pope Francis gave statements praising Russia, BNS reports. Speaking online to a group of Catholic Russians in Saint Petersburg, Pope Francis said that they were “heirs of the great Mother Russia” and of an “empire of great culture and great humanity.”…
The editor-in-chief of Russian propaganda agency Sputnik’s Lithuanian edition, Marats Kasems, has fled Latvia, fearing criminal prosecution, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, announced, LETA reports. Riga-based Russian independent news website Meduza reported that Kasems was now in Russia. Meanwhile, his Facebook page indicates that he is currently in the UK. Earlier, Kasems pled…
The foreign ministers of the three Baltic States have sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), expressing concern about recommendations to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris under a neutral flag, BNS reports. In their joint letter to IOC president Thomas Bach, the ministers…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda urged Latin American countries not to be “seduced” by Russian propaganda, BNS reports. Speaking at a summit of leaders from the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in Brussels, Nauseda pointed out that Russia was “not a victim, but the aggressor” in the war in Ukraine….
Latvia’s Latvians and Russian-speakers continue to hold completely opposite views on the war in Ukraine, according to an SKDS poll for Ir magazine, LSM reports. The survey showed that 78% of Latvian-speakers supported Ukraine in April 2023, while only 27% of Russian-speakers did so. In mixed households, just 32% supported Ukraine, which was down from…
The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) has revoked the residence permit of a Russian citizen, Vladimir Vodo, after the State Security Department (VSD) said that he posed a threat to national security, BNS reports. Vodo claims to be a journalist, yet spreads pro-Russian propaganda on social media and has contacts with Russian and Belarusian intelligence services, VSD…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has asked Prosecutor General Juris Stukans to explain why a Latvian citizen who provided support to Russia got away with just a fine, LSM reports. Earlier, a court found Marats Kasems, editor of Russian propaganda agency Sputnik’s Lithuanian edition, guilty of supporting Russia’s activities against Latvia and sentenced him to a…
Estonia needs proactive legislation to restrict “harmful foreign media outlets,” in addition to sanctions imposed on Russia, Andres Jõesaar, media adviser at the Estonian Ministry of Culture, stated, ERR reports. He conceded that the recent controversial proposal by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) to monitor media bias was “badly worded.” However, Jõesaar…
Estonian MEP Yana Toom of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) visited Russia to meet with pro-Russia activist Zoja Paljamar, who was barred from entering Estonia for security reasons, ERR reports. Toom said that she was visiting her sister in Russia. “Perhaps someone also has a relative in North Korea, too,” she explained. Toom announced on…
