Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) has received 194 asylum applications so far in 2023, BNS reports. Among them were 40 Iraqis, 34 Belarusians, 18 Afghans, 17 Russians, and 13 Syrians. The applications were submitted at border checkpoints or after crossing the border illegally. Most of those who entered Lithuania illegally were Belarusian citizens. In…
A Russian army lieutenant who took part in Russia’s war in Ukraine has fled to Lithuania and applied for asylum, TV3 reports. He was detained at Vilnius bus station, after which he applied for asylum. Earlier, the man had crossed the border from Belarus but was pushed back by border guards. In June 2023, a…
Lithuania has deemed 1,164 Belarusian and Russian nationals a threat to national security, according to the Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD), BNS reports. Altogether 910 Belarusian and 254 Russian citizens were denied residence permits or visas after the introduction of a mandatory questionnaire, which includes questions on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Lithuania restricted the…
The prime ministers of the three Baltic States have signed a joint declaration to speed up the synchronisation of the Baltic power grids with the continental European network, ERR reports. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that the Baltic States would disconnect from the Russian-controlled BRELL system as soon as it was technically possible. She…
Lithuania will close two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus following the arrival of Russian private military company Wagner Group’s mercenaries in Belarus, Deputy Interior Minister Arnoldas Abramavicius announced, BNS reports. He said that the plan was to close the Sumskas and Tverecius border checkpoints. Saulius Nekrasevicius, deputy director of the State Border Guard…
The number of foreign citizens living in Lithuania totalled 195,500 at the end of the first half of 2023, which was an increase of more than 6,000 from 189,411 in the beginning of 2023, according to the Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD), BNS reports. Foreigners accounted for 6.83% of the total population, which was up from…
The Baltic electricity transmission system operators have signed an agreement on the synchronisation of the Baltic power grids with the continental European system, The Baltic Times reports. Under the agreement, Estonia’s Elering, Latvia’s Augstsprieguma Tikls (AST), and Lithuania’s Litgrid will disconnect from the Russian-controlled BRELL system and connect to the continental European grid in February…
Police in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, briefly detained Ukrainian journalist Arkady Babchenko after he threw eggs at the Russian embassy in Tallinn’s Old Town, ERR reports. Babchenko told Postimees that he threw four eggs at the embassy building, and that the motive “should be obvious.” Such a reaction to Russian aggression in Ukraine was natural, he…
Latvia must prepare for Russia’s policy to remain aggressive over the long term, Latvia’s new ambassador to NATO, Maris Riekstins, stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Riekstins said that recent events suggested that Russian leader Vladimir Putin saw extending the war in Ukraine over many years as the only way out of…