Recent drone incidents in the Baltic States are part of Russia’s strategy to destabilise democratic societies in the region, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, BNS reports. Speaking after a meeting with Baltic presidents in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, von der Leyen stressed the need for EU unity in support of the three…
NATO plans to assign additional forces to defend the Baltic States, Reuters reports. Military sources revealed that Germany and the Netherlands had agreed to assign the 1 German-Netherlands Corps (1GNC), based in the German city of Münster, to the defence of Estonia and Latvia. The move would facilitate the rapid deployment of forces into the…
Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers condemned Russian threats to attack the Baltic States amid Ukrainian drone strikes, Reuters reported. Earlier, Russia claimed that Ukraine was using NATO airspace as cover for drone attacks on Russian targets. In a joint statement, the NB8 foreign ministers rejected “Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign and false claims, supported by Belarus,…
The US has warned European allies, including Estonia and Lithuania, of long delays in the delivery of US weapons due to the Iran war, the Financial Times reports. Reuters reported on the delays earlier. The US Department of Defence told to expect serious delays for several missile systems, including HIMARS and NASAMS used by Estonia…
China remains open to dialogue with Lithuania, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian stated, Reuters reported. China hopes that Lithuania will “translate its willingness to improve bilateral relations into concrete action and promptly rectify its error,” he said. Earlier, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene stated that the previous government had made a “major mistake” in…
The foreign ministers of the three Baltic States and Finland expressed solidarity with Denmark and Greenland after US President Donald Trump repeated his claim that the US needed to annex Greenland, ERR reports. Earlier, Trump appointed Louisiana governor Jeff Landry as US special envoy to Greenland. Landry stated that he would work to make Greenland…
Lithuania expects Belarus to honour its pledge to stop smuggler balloons from flying into Lithuanian airspace, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stated, BNS reports. Earlier, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, John Coale, announced that Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka had promised to halt the balloon incursions. Budrys warned that failure to honour the pledge would affect…
China’s Foreign Ministry has condemned Lithuania’s decision to expel three Chinese diplomats, Reuters reports. The ministry asserted that Lithuania had failed to provide a reason for the expulsions. China reserved the right to take countermeasures, the ministry said. Earlier, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry announced that the expulsions were due to violations of the Vienna Convention on…
Lithuanians are voting in the first round of elections for the country’s parliament, the Seimas, LRT reports. Under the electoral system, a second round of voting in single-member constituencies where no candidate gets over 50% of votes will take place on 27 October 2024. Altogether 14 parties and 1 coalition of parties listed candidates for…