NATO member states have decided to drop the requirement for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine on its path to NATO membership, Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, confirmed, Ukrainska Pravda reports. This was earlier announced by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba. Nauseda noted that the move would simplify Ukraine’s NATO accession process. He stressed that…
Latvia’s President, Edgars Rinkevics, met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Riga, LETA reports. The two officials discussed the NATO summit in Vilnius, support for Ukraine, the situation in Belarus and Russia, and bilateral economic cooperation. Rinkevics expressed Latvia’s wish for Canada to expand its military presence in Latvia. Canada leads the NATO enhanced…
Cyber attackers are conducting targeted DDoS attacks against Lithuania, Liudas Alisauskas, director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NKSC), announced, BNS reports. The attacks disrupted the mobile public transport ticket system, m.Ticket, in Vilnius and the website of the capital city’s development agency, Go Vilnius. Also, NKSC recorded two incidents when anti-NATO disinformation was broadcast…
NATO allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of the defence alliance, but first it must win the war against Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated, LRT reports. Speaking after a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius, Stoltenberg said that it was “too early to talk about concrete decisions and concrete…
Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is visiting Latvia on 10 July 2023 en route to the NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, LSM reports. He will meet with several Latvian officials and hold a joint press conference with Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins. Trudeau promised to more than double the size of Canada’s contribution to…
NATO leaders and delegations have begun gathering in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, for the defence alliance’s summit due to take place on 11-12 July 2023, BNS reports. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the summit venue, the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre (LITEXPO), on 10 July 2023. Also, Nauseda…
Finland’s new defence minister, Antti Häkkänen, visited Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, to meet with his Estonian counterpart, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, on 6 July 2023, ERR reported. The two ministers discussed bilateral defence cooperation, regional security, the NATO summit in Vilnius, assistance to Ukraine, and EU defence support. Pevkur said that Finland’s accession to NATO opened…
Altogether 84 prosecutors in Lithuania have resigned since 2019 and 55 since 2021, Prosecutor General Nida Grunskiene revealed, ELTA reports. She said that prosecutors with extensive work experience had resigned as well, and that the average age of prosecutors was going up. Meanwhile, only 18 new prosecutors have been hired, she noted. Grunskiene said that…
NATO allies have deployed additional capabilities to safeguard the NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital city of Vilnius on 11-12 July 2023, ERR reports. Germany has stationed 12 Patriot air defence batteries, Spain has sent NASAMS air defence systems, and France will deploy Caesar mobile artillery in Lithuania. Also, Denmark, Finland, and France will station fighter…