China appears open to talks on normalising diplomatic relations with Lithuania, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament, Remigijus Motuzas of the ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), stated, BNS reports. Speaking after a briefing by Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, Motuzas said that China was “inclined to meet, communicate, and negotiate”…
Lithuania’s incoming new prime minister, Mindaugas Sinkevicius, chairman of the country’s ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), has presented his proposed cabinet of ministers to President Gitanas Nauseda, BNS reports. LSDP has nominated nine ministers to the new coalition government: Lukas Alsys for culture minister, Ieva Andriulaityte for environment minister, Kestutis Budrys for foreign minister,…
Lithuania should “slightly de-escalate” tensions with Belarus, Deividas Matulionis, national security adviser to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, stated, LRT reported. Earlier, Belarus released 123 political prisoners in exchange for the US lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilisers. Also, Belarus pledged to stop the incursion of smuggler balloons into Lithuanian airspace. Lithuania has halted transit shipments…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has approved the country’s new cabinet of ministers, BNS reports. He described the incoming centre-left government as more capable than the outgoing centre-right government of Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) will hold the post of prime minister and will have nine ministers in the new government,…
Lithuania is experiencing increasingly common heat waves with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, which experts say is becoming the new summer norm due to climate change, LRT reports. Gytis Valaika from the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service (LHMT) and Justinas Kilpys from Vilnius University highlight that such temperatures were rare before 2000 but have occurred annually since…
The growth of household income in Lithuania will exceed inflation by 3-4 times in 2024, Social Security and Labour Minister Monika Navickiene forecasts, BNS reports. The Social Security and Labour Ministry expects that household income will rise by an average 12% on year in 2024, while the Finance Ministry expects Lithuania’s average annual inflation to…
A continuing confrontation between Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda and the government has delayed the appointment of a new ambassador to neighbouring Poland, LRT reports. The post has been vacant since September 2023, with Nauseda rejecting two candidates suggested by the government. The Office of the President has proposed changing the procedure for appointing ambassadors by…
Lithuania’s decision to distance from China and forge closer ties with Taiwan is one of the government’s most influential foreign policy initiatives, LRT reports. The move is part of Lithuania’s “values-based foreign policy,” which touts the country as a “freedom-loving outpost” in an increasingly authoritarian region. At the same time, officials admitted that the move…
Lithuania’s Vilnius University has dismissed Russian professor Andrey Desnitsky, who earlier denied the occupation of the Baltic States, LRT reports. Professor Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, dean of Vilnius University’s Faculty of Philology, said that Desnitsky, who had been working as a researcher and lecturer at the university since autumn 2022, had earlier written publications in which he…