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 plans to complete the construction of a National Concert Hall in Vilnius in 2030, the capital city’s mayor, Valdas Benkunskas, announced, BNS reports. Benkunskas expects a contract on the project to be signed in spring 2024. The Ministry of Culture estimated that the total cost of the project will amount to around EUR 121mn….
Lithuania risks losing millions of euros in EU funds if key reforms, including a tax reform, are not implemented, European Commission (EC) Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis warned, LRT reports. Dombrovskis will discuss the progress of the tax reform package with Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte and Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste in Vilnius on 7-8 September 2023. Dombrovskis…
Apartment rental prices in Lithuania are 20% higher than before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, LRT reports. In Vilnius, the rental price of a one-bedroom apartment is around EUR 1,000 or more per month in the city centre, EUR 700-800 in new buildings, and EUR 500 in old buildings. In Kaunas, rents are around EUR…
Average labour income in Lithuania stood at EUR 1,980 before taxes in the second quarter of 2023, which was up 12.3% from the same period of 2022, according to the State Social Insurance Fund (SoDra), BNS reports. The average monthly net wage amounted to EUR 1,230, which was up 11.2% over a year. The fastest…
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, will open flights on eleven new routes in May 2024, including seven from Latvia, two from Estonia, and two from Lithuania, BNS reports. The company will open flights from Riga to Alicante, Chisinau, Ljubljana, Pristina, Skopje, Sofia, and Tirana. Also, airBaltic will open flights from Tallinn to Billund in Denmark…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will make efforts to ensure that Germany’s brigade is deployed to Lithuania by 2026, according to his chief foreign policy adviser, Asta Skaisgiryte, BNS reports. Germany’s chief of defence, General Carsten Breuer, said that Germany would begin deploying the brigade in early 2024. Nauseda met with Breuer in Vilnius to discuss…
Latvia’s Ministry of Transport supports the resumption of passenger train traffic between Latvia and Lithuania, LSM reports. The ministry said that the priority was reopening the route from Riga via Daugavpils to Vilnius. The Latvian and Lithuanian passenger train operators, Pasazieru Vilciens (PV) and LTG Link, have drawn up various options for routes, operators, and…
Lithuania’s Transport Minister, Marius Skuodis, hopes that state-owned passenger train operator LTG Link open a regular connection between the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, and Latvian capital Riga in 2024, BNS reports. Skuodis discussed the possibility of resuming a passenger train connection from Vilnius via Siauliai to Riga and Daugavpils with LTG Link’s CEO, Linas Bauzys. The…