LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Upcoming events in Lithuania for Thursday, June 12, 2025
- Lithuanian president to discuss business ties with Vietnam's top officials
- Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus
- Lithuanian FM believes NATO will agree on 5 pct of GDP defense spending target
- Lithuanian MPs to start debating possibility of natl economic sanctions on Russia, Belarus
- SocDems continue to top Lithuania's party rankings, followed by conservatives – poll
- Lithuania plans to sign double taxation avoidance treaty with Vietnam
- Lithuanian parlt postpones debate on natl sanctions against Russia and Belarus
- Lithuania to sign technical assistance deal with IMF to cut VAT gap – finmin
- Vilnius BC Wolves wants to suspend activities, asks LKL to suspend its license
- HU-LCD vow to table their own bill on possible economic sanctions against Russia, Belarus
- No point for Lithuania to impose sanctions against Russia, Belarus alone – PM
- Lithuanian parlt orders audit on Ignitis Group's offshore wind farm project
- FM says he has no info on possible transfer of Lithuanians from US to Guantanamo
- Upcoming events in Lithuania for Friday, June 13, 2025
Upcoming events in Lithuania for Thursday, June 12, 2025
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Thursday, June 12, 2025:
PRESIDENT Gitanas Nauseda to pay a visit to Vietnam.
INTERIOR MINISTER Vladislav Kondratovic to attend a meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers in Luxembourg.
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Lithuanian president to discuss business ties with Vietnam's top officials
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda is set to meet with President Luong Cuong, General Secretary To Lam and National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man during his official visit to Vietnam on Thursday.
Nausėda will also open the Lithuania–Vietnam Business Forum, which will be attended by a delegation of Lithuanian business and public sector representatives, the president's office said in a press release.
"During the visit, interinstitutional and business agreements between Lithuania and Vietnam will be signed, covering cooperation in various economic sectors," it said.
First Lady Diana Nausediene will visit the Vietnamese Women's Museum, where she will meet with the president of the Vietnam Women's Union.
Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas, who is also currently in Vietnam, joined Nauseda's delegation on Wednesday.
Lithuania began stepping up ties with Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, a few years ago in a bid to reduce its dependence on China.
Relations between Lithuania and China soured in 2021 after Vilnius started forging closer ties with Taiwan and allowed the island to open its representative office with the word "Taiwanese," rather than "Taipei's," in its name.
Darius Silenskis, CEO of the state-run oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal operator KN Energies, has also spoken about Vietnam's market potential as the country prepares for a strategic shift from coal to LNG.
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Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – Lithuanian border guards have recorded no attempts to cross into the country from Belarus illegally in the past 24 hours, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Thursday morning.
Latvia reported 46 illegal border crossing attempts on Wednesday. Poland denied entry to 197 irregular migrants on Tuesday, according to the latest available information.
Lithuania has barred a total of 857 irregular migrants from entering from Belarus at non-designated places so far this year, after turning away 1,002 in 2024
The influx of irregular migrants into the EU's eastern member states from Belarus began in 2021 and is blamed by the West on the Minsk regime.
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Lithuanian FM believes NATO will agree on 5 pct of GDP defense spending target
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – NATO member states are likely to agree at the upcoming summit to aim for gradually raising defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said on Wednesday.
"The overall target should be 5 percent, and I'm optimistic we'll reach a deal. Some countries are still hesitant, but it looks like everyone will say we've finally hit the 2 percent mark," Budrys told an LRT TV program.
With the United States pressing its allies to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense, diplomats say NATO countries will aim to agree on such a commitment at the summit in The Hague later in June by splitting it into two components.
The proposal includes a 3.5 percent target for hard defense spending and an extra 1.5 percent for defense-related needs.
Lithuania's top diplomat called this proposal a positive step that the Alliance is likely to take.
"The 5 percent figure will likely be split into 3.5 and 1.5 percent. But 3.5 percent would already be a solid leap forward. Even NATO's secretary general has mentioned the figure of 3.7 percent. That's what's needed to reach NATO's planned capabilities," he said.
Still, Budrys believes NATO should move beyond just talking percentages and focus on strengthening concrete capabilities.
"My call has been (...) to start talking about specific capabilities. Maybe even declassify some (information). (...) We're now hearing that we need four times more air defense, we need thousands of tanks to be able to maneuver," he said.
The minister added that he will use the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague to convince Southern European allies to bolster their defenses and allocate more funding.
Budrys noted that countries farther from Russia often have a false sense of security, assuming any conflict would stay confined to NATO's eastern flank.
"(They believe) that war could be localized or contained. If anything moves here (on the eastern NATO flank), everything will go to hell. Organizations will collapse, currencies will crash, jobs will vanish, and entire industries will fall apart. Europe will never be the same again," the minister said.
"It's part of our job to convince Southern European countries to keep increasing their defense budgets and to help them find the arguments for why it needs to be done," he added.
NATO countries are considering committing to the 5 percent of GDP defense target by 2032.
The Hague will host the Alliance's summit on June 24–25.
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Lithuanian MPs to start debating possibility of natl economic sanctions on Russia, Belarus
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – The Lithuanian government's proposal to amend the law to allow national economic sanctions to be imposed on Russia and Belarus if the European Union fails to extend its measures is expected to be presented to the parliament on Thursday.
The amendments to the Law on Restrictive Measures Due to Military Aggression Against Ukraine were initiated by the Foreign Ministry and have been approved by the Cabinet.
"Sanctions remain a key instrument of the European Union's foreign policy in response to Russia's continued aggression against Ukraine, but extending them is never an easy process – it presents all sorts of challenges," Deputy Foreign Minister Gabija Grigaite-Daugirde told the Cabinet last week while presenting the bill.
"We are doing everything we can to ensure sanctions stay in place at the EU level, but we must also be ready for all potential scenarios," she added.
The bill would authorize the Lithuanian government to impose two types of sanctions: asset freezes and sectoral restrictions.
In both cases, the lists of sanctioned individuals and companies would be drawn up by the Cabinet.
According to the Foreign Ministry, these restrictive measures would be used only in exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, if the EU suspended sanctions on Russia and Belarus or if member states failed to reach an agreement on extending them.
Vilnius wants other EU members bordering Russia or Belarus to adopt similar national measures in such a case. This would prevent goods from the two countries from entering the bloc by land and increase trade costs.
The EU has adopted 17 sanctions packages against Russia since February 24, 2022, when Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions target both specific individuals and the Kremlin's economic sectors and companies.
Lithuania has also imposed its national sanctions on Russian and Belarusian citizens. These include entry restrictions, limits on issuing residence permits, and additional security checks for those arriving from outside the EU. Russian and Belarusian citizens are also prohibited from bringing or taking Ukrainian hryvnias into or out of Lithuania, and the import of agricultural products and feed originating from Russia or Belarus is banned.
Russian citizens without residence permits are also barred from purchasing real estate in Lithuania.
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SocDems continue to top Lithuania's party rankings, followed by conservatives – poll
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – The ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) continues to top Lithuania's political party rankings, followed by the opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU–LCD) in second place, according to the latest Spinter Tyrimai opinion poll published by Delfi on Thursday.
Some 13.5 percent of respondents said in May they would vote for the LSDP and 12.5 percent supported the conservative HU–LCD, down from 14.5 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, in April.
Next in the rankings are the ruling Democrats "For Lithuania" with 7.5 percent support (down from 9.3 percent in April), the opposition Liberal Movement with 6.3 percent (6.2 percent), the ruling Nemunas Dawn party with 5.5 percent (6.5 percent), and the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union with 5.4 percent (6.9 percent).
The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance, the Freedom Party, and other parties would fail to cross the 5 percent threshold required to enter parliament through the multi-member constituency.
In the representative survey commissioned by Delfi, Spinter Tyrimai polled 1,015 people online and by phone between May 18 and 26. The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percent.
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Lithuania plans to sign double taxation avoidance treaty with Vietnam
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – Lithuania is planning to sign a treaty with Vietnam to avoid double taxation on income.
Deputy Finance Minister Janus Kizenevic signed a letter of intent during his visit to Vietnam, the Finance Ministry said in a press release on Thursday.
"In our search for new markets, we have to facilitate the first steps for businesses so that, at least in the initial stage of setting up and developing operations in Vietnam, they can avoid additional costs and bureaucratic hurdles," it quoted Kizenevic as saying.
"Discovering new markets is particularly important in today's dynamic and challenging geopolitical environment," he added.
According to the ministry, the essence of the treaty is to establish rules for sharing taxation rights, eliminating double taxation and cooperating in the field of taxation, thus ensuring legal clarity regarding how income earned by residents and companies of Lithuania and Vietnam is taxed.
As part of President Gitanas Nauseda's delegation, the deputy minister also attended a meeting with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong, held bilateral talks with Vietnam's deputy finance minister and took part in a panel discussion on innovation and digitalization.
Lithuania began stepping up ties with Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, a few years ago in a bid to reduce its dependence on China.
Relations between Lithuania and China soured in 2021 after Vilnius started forging closer ties with Taiwan and allowed the island to open its representative office with the word "Taiwanese" rather than "Taipei" in its name.
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Lithuanian parlt postpones debate on natl sanctions against Russia and Belarus
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – Lithuanian lawmakers on Thursday postponed the debate on the government's proposal to provide for the possibility to introduce national economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus, which was scheduled to start on today.
"The tabling of the bill has been postponed because we need to look into the comments of the Seimas lawyers," Orinta Leipute, a Social Democrat deputy speaker of the Seimas, told BNS.
The amendments to the Law on Restrictive Measures Due to Military Aggression Against Ukraine were initiated by the Foreign Ministry and have been approved by the Cabinet.
The bill would authorize the Lithuanian government to impose two types of sanctions: asset freezes and sectoral restrictions.
In both cases, the lists of sanctioned individuals and companies would be drawn up by the Cabinet.
According to the Foreign Ministry, these restrictive measures would be used only in exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, if the EU suspended sanctions on Russia and Belarus or if member states failed to reach an agreement on extending them.
Vilnius wants other EU members bordering Russia or Belarus to adopt similar national measures in such a case. This would prevent goods from the two countries from entering the bloc by land and increase trade costs.
The EU has adopted 17 sanctions packages against Russia since February 24, 2022, when Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions target both specific individuals and the Kremlin's economic sectors and companies.
Lithuania has also imposed its national sanctions on Russian and Belarusian citizens. These include entry restrictions, limits on issuing residence permits, and additional security checks for those arriving from outside the EU. Russian and Belarusian citizens are also prohibited from bringing or taking Ukrainian hryvnias into or out of Lithuania, and the import of agricultural products and feed originating from Russia or Belarus is banned.
Russian citizens without residence permits are also barred from purchasing real estate in Lithuania.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 239 64 16, Vilnius newsroom
Lithuania to sign technical assistance deal with IMF to cut VAT gap – finmin
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – Lithuania is set to sign a technical assistance agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) aimed at reducing the country's value-added tax (VAT) gap, Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius said on Thursday.
"We're in serious talks with IMF experts. We'll sign a technical assistance agreement. They'll analyze what we have here in Lithuania and propose measures that have proven effective in other countries, including Poland," Sadzius told the political group of the Farmers, Greens and Christian Families Union in the parliament.
The IMF would advise Lithuania on how to better tackle the shadow economy, narrow the VAT gap and improve tax administration.
Sadzius told BNS after the meeting that the VAT gap is costing the state budget hundreds of millions of euros every year.
The minister believes the IMF's support will be effective, noting that the institution has already helped a number of other countries deal with similar issues.
He expects the agreement to be signed in the near future.
The minister also pointed out that the European Commission reviewed the government's initial tax reform package, which included a different version of the real estate tax.
"The package was found acceptable (by the Commission), but the real estate tax proposal was different," he said.
At the time, the government proposed taxing not only second and additional properties but also people's primary homes, setting a non-taxable property value threshold.
However, the ruling coalition later agreed not to tax primary homes, a move backed this week by the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance.
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Vilnius BC Wolves wants to suspend activities, asks LKL to suspend its license
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – BC Wolves Twinesbet, a Vilnius basketball club founded and owned by businessman Gediminas Ziemelis, intends to suspend its activities for two years and has asked the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL) to revoke its license.
The businessman said in a statement issued on Thursday by Avia Solutions Group, an aviation group he owns, that the club "might continue to operate in a slightly different format" in the future.
"Wolves had all the potential to become a strong basketball club representing the capital city and delighting the basketball community. I had a vision to create a professional basketball club that would increase the popularity and visibility of Vilnius not only on the national level but also on the international level. However, I have to admit that this project has failed to achieve its sporting goals, which has automatic influence on its commercial goals," Ziemelis said.
In his words, the new gambling restrictions, which will come into force in July and significantly reduce the revenue of the Twinsbet brand, also contributed to this decision.
"Therefore, we have to put an end to the club's activities," Ziemelis explained.
Last year, Nese, the owner of the online entertainment brand Twinsbet, became one of the main sponsors and partners of BC Wolves Twinesbet. The name was also used in the club's name and was given to the Avia Solutions Group Arena in Vilnius.
According to Ziemelis, BC Wolves Twinesbet's annual budget exceeds 5 million euros, and more than 15 million euros in working capital has been directly invested into the basketball club over the last three years.
The decision regarding the club was also driven by changes in European basketball and the small size of the Lithuanian market: "There is no economic logic in growing several international teams".
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HU-LCD vow to table their own bill on possible economic sanctions against Russia, Belarus
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – As Lithuania's ruling bloc keeps postponing the submission of the bill on possible national economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the opposition conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats vow to put the issue on the opposition agenda.
"We will register this bill in our name and put it on the opposition agenda on Tuesday," Laurynas Kasciunas, the HU-LCD leader, told reporters at the Seimas on Thursday.
In his words, the government's bill will be taken as a basis, slightly improved and registered by the HU-LCD.
According to Statute of the Seimas, the ruling bloc has no right to remove bill from the opposition agenda.
Kasciunas says that since the bill on national economic sanctions was proposed by the government and the ruling block subsequently removed it from the parliamentary agenda, "clearly, something wrong within the ruling majority”.
"We are ready to lend a helping hand on national issues, such as sanctions, restrictive measures, and to help the foreign minister to maintain his authority," he said.
Earlier in the day, Lithuanian lawmakers on postponed the debate on the government's proposal to provide for the possibility to introduce national economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus, which was scheduled to start on today.
The amendments to the Law on Restrictive Measures Due to Military Aggression Against Ukraine were initiated by the Foreign Ministry and have been approved by the Cabinet.
The bill would authorize the Lithuanian government to impose two types of sanctions: asset freezes and sectoral restrictions.
In both cases, the lists of sanctioned individuals and companies would be drawn up by the Cabinet.
According to the Foreign Ministry, these restrictive measures would be used only in exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, if the EU suspended sanctions on Russia and Belarus or if member states failed to reach an agreement on extending them.
Vilnius wants other EU members bordering Russia or Belarus to adopt similar national measures in such a case. This would prevent goods from the two countries from entering the bloc by land and increase trade costs.
The EU has adopted 17 sanctions packages against Russia since February 24, 2022, when Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions target both specific individuals and the Kremlin's economic sectors and companies.
Lithuania has also imposed its national sanctions on Russian and Belarusian citizens. These include entry restrictions, limits on issuing residence permits, and additional security checks for those arriving from outside the EU. Russian and Belarusian citizens are also prohibited from bringing or taking Ukrainian hryvnias into or out of Lithuania, and the import of agricultural products and feed originating from Russia or Belarus is banned.
Russian citizens without residence permits are also barred from purchasing real estate in Lithuania.
By Jūratė Skėrytė
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No point for Lithuania to impose sanctions against Russia, Belarus alone – PM
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – If the European Union fails to extend its economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus and if there's no regional agreement on the issue, it does not make sense for Lithuania to impose such sanctions alone, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas says.
"We need a regional solution on sectoral sanctions. If we have no regional solution, sectoral sanctions do not make sense," the prime minister told reporters at the Seimas on Thursday.
In such a case, he added, such sanctions would be ineffective, would generate economic damage and would not produce the desired result.
"This is why we need to agree on them, or at least to discuss them, if there are circumstances where countries in the region are willing to accept sectoral restrictions," he said.
If the EU fails to extend its economic sanctions and Lithuania fails to reach an agreement with its neighbors on their application, Lithuania would not impose the restrictions alone, Paluckas said.
Earlier in the day, Lithuanian lawmakers on postponed the debate on the government's proposal to provide for the possibility to introduce national economic sanctions against Russia and Belarus, which was scheduled to start on today.
The amendments to the Law on Restrictive Measures Due to Military Aggression Against Ukraine were initiated by the Foreign Ministry and have been approved by the Cabinet.
The bill would authorize the Lithuanian government to impose two types of sanctions: asset freezes and sectoral restrictions.
In both cases, the lists of sanctioned individuals and companies would be drawn up by the Cabinet.
According to the Foreign Ministry, these restrictive measures would be used only in exceptional circumstances, as a last resort, if the EU suspended sanctions on Russia and Belarus or if member states failed to reach an agreement on extending them.
Vilnius wants other EU members bordering Russia or Belarus to adopt similar national measures in such a case. This would prevent goods from the two countries from entering the bloc by land and increase trade costs.
The EU has adopted 17 sanctions packages against Russia since February 24, 2022, when Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions target both specific individuals and the Kremlin's economic sectors and companies.
Lithuania has also imposed its national sanctions on Russian and Belarusian citizens. These include entry restrictions, limits on issuing residence permits, and additional security checks for those arriving from outside the EU. Russian and Belarusian citizens are also prohibited from bringing or taking Ukrainian hryvnias into or out of Lithuania, and the import of agricultural products and feed originating from Russia or Belarus is banned.
Russian citizens without residence permits are also barred from purchasing real estate in Lithuania.
By Jūratė Skėrytė
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Lithuanian parlt orders audit on Ignitis Group's offshore wind farm project
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – Lithuania's parliament on Thursday tasked the National Audit Office to carry out an audit by mid-November on the involvement of state-owned companies in the implementation of the Curonian Nord wind farm project in the Baltic Sea.
79 lawmakers voted in favor of the audit, 20 were against and ten abstained.
Such an audit on the first 700 MW wind farm project in the Baltic Sea, which is being carried out by Ignitis Group in partnership with a foreign partner, was demanded by the parliamentary Committee on Audit, led by members of the Nemunas Dawn party, as well as the Commission for Energy and Sustainable Development.
The auditors will assess the justification and legality of the use of funds allocated to the project, the sharing of risks between the project partners and its impact on the interests of the state.
In its annual report in February, the energy group acknowledged that delays in large-scale electrolysis or green hydrogen projects in Europe and the Baltic states, and the resulting reduction in its ability to secure long-term power sales contracts, could make it difficult to finance the 700 MW offshore wind farm it is developing for around 3 billion euros.
As a result, the project's commercial launch, now scheduled for 2030, could be delayed by up to five years, and the project could not be completed until around 2035.
In 2023, Ignitis Renewables, a subsidiary of Ignitis Group, together with its partner Ocean Winds, a global offshore wind farm developer, won the tender to develop Lithuania's first offshore wind farm without state aid.
The companies paid a 20-million-euro fee to the state for the right to develop the farm, and a further 30 million euros has been spent on seabed research, studies and staff salaries.
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FM says he has no info on possible transfer of Lithuanians from US to Guantanamo
VILNIUS, Jun 12, BNS – Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said on Thursday that he has no information about any Lithuanians who may have sought help over their possible transfer from the United States, where they are staying illegally, to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
"I have no confirmation that any of our citizens could be there," he added.
Citing sources, Politico and The Washington Post reported that the US government is considering sending irregular migrants, including people from friendly European countries, to Guantanamo.
According to the reports, the migrants would be held there temporarily before being deported to their countries of origin.
The White House denied the reports on Wednesday, calling them fake news.
In January, US President Donald Trump ordered the preparation of a 30,000-person "migrant facility" at the Guantanamo base, which is best known as a detention center for terror suspects.
The Guantanamo prison was opened in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and has been used to indefinitely hold detainees captured during wars and later operations.
Conditions at Guantanamo have been widely criticized by human rights groups. UN experts have called it a site of "unparalleled notoriety."
Migrants have also been held at Guantanamo.
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Upcoming events in Lithuania for Friday, June 13, 2025
VILNIUS, Jun 13, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Friday, June 13, 2025:
INTERIOR MINISTER Vladislav Kondratovic to attend a meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers in Luxembourg.
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