Lithuania and Poland need to increase their cooperation to speed up the synchronisation of the Baltic electricity grids with the European system, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stated, BNS reports. Also, the two countries needed to accelerate the implementation of the Via Baltica highway, the Augustow-Alytus road, and the Rail Baltica railway projects, Nauseda said. Speaking…
Despite diplomatic tensions, buses between Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, and the Belarusian capital, Minsk, are running at full capacity, LRT reports. Buses remain the only form of public transport between Lithuania and Belarus, as train services have remained suspended since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and Lithuania’s airspace is closed to Belarusian aircraft. Moreover, Lithuania…
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…
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…
Lithuania’s state-owned rail freight operator, LTG Cargo, plans to buy electric locomotives for around EUR 100mn to transport cargo between Vilnius and the port of Klaipeda, Baltic News Network reports. The company has launched an international public procurement procedure for the purchase of the electric locomotives, technical maintenance, and supply of spare parts for at…
Lithuania has reintroduced border control measures, which will remain in place until the end of the NATO summit in Vilnius, BNS reports. Border checks will be carried out from 8am on 7 July 2023 until 8am on 13 July 2023. Travellers crossing internal EU borders will have to present a valid travel document and third-country…
Estonia’s Defence Minister, Hanno Pevkur, voiced satisfaction at the details of NATO’s new defence plans for the Baltic region, ERR reports. He said that there were no outstanding points of contention regarding the plans ahead of the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. Discussions continued over the wording of the introductory section of the…
Almost two thirds of residents in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, prefer to drink tap water, according to a Norstat LT poll for the municipal water supplier, Vilniaus Vandenys, ELTA reports. The survey showed that 71% of Vilnius residents preferred tap water to bottled water. In a similar survey done in 2021, just 44% of Vilnius residents…
The invitation for Ukraine to join NATO must be "clear and irrevocable," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking after a leadership meeting at the presidential palace to prepare for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Landsbergis reiterated Lithuania’s full support for Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO. The meeting was also attended…