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LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN, February 7, 2023

Feb 08 2023

LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN


IN THIS ISSUE:

  1. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Tuesday, February 7, 2023
  2. One irregular migrant turned away on Lithuania's border with Belarus
  3. Swedish PM, Lithuanian leaders to discuss NATO summit, energy, support for Ukraine  
  4. Lithuania reports 571 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths
  5. Lithuanian president's aide welcomes proposed windfall tax on banks 
  6. Lithuanians trained Ukrainian troops to use anti-aircraft gun
  7. Lithuanian formin calls for Saakashvili's release for treatment abroad
  8. Lithuanian parlt opposition collects signatures for extraordinary session
  9. EUR 2.58 mln worth of cigarettes found in apple shipment in Lithuania
  10. Lithuanian National Drama Theater sacks playwright Ivaskevicius
  11. Lithuania launches competition for post of cultural attaché in Ukraine, Georgia  
  12. Lithuanian president calls for Russia sanction agreement at preparatory EC session
  13. ECCs need more visibility – EU commissioner in Lithuania's Kaunas
  14. Sweden would contribute to air policing mission in Lithuania after NATO membership
  15. Sanctions have impact on Russia's economy – Lithuanian PM
  16. Lithuanian PM: parlt speaker didn’t inform me about top prosecutor's plans
  17. Lithuania to send earthquake aid to Turkey and Syria – PM

Upcoming events in Lithuania for Tuesday, February 7, 2023

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Tuesday, February 7, 2023:

PRESIDENT Gitanas Nauseda to meet with European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel at 8.30 a.m.; to attend a virtual preparatory European Council session at noon; to meet with visiting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at 4.30 p.m.

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen to attend an international conference on regional development at 9 a.m.; to meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at į.15 p.m.

PRIME MINISTER Ingrida Simonyte to meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at 2.20 p.m.; followed by a joint press conference at 4.50 p.m.

CULTURE MINISTER Simonas Kairys to accompany European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel during her visit to Kaunas; to attend a joint press conference with the European commissioner and Education, Science and Sport Minister Jurgita Siugzdiniene at 3 p.m.

EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND SPORT MINISTER Jurgita Siugzdiniene and European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel to attend AgriFood, an international start-up conference, at 9 a.m.; to take part in a discussion on start-ups' regional development at 9.20 a.m.; to visit the VGTU Lyceum at 10.35 a.m.; to visit the central post office in Kaunas at 1.30 p.m.; to attend a joint press conference with the European commissioner and the Lithuanian culture minister at 3 p.m.

JUSTICE MINISTER Ewelina Dobrowolska to visit a correctional facility in Tallinn at 9.30 a.m.; to attend a meeting at the Estonian Justice Minister at 2 p.m.; to meet with her Estonian counterpart at 3 p.m.

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One irregular migrant turned away on Lithuania's border with Belarus

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Lithuanian border guards have in the past 24 hours turned away one migrant attempting to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Tuesday morning.

Latvia reported 24 attempts at illegal border crossings on Monday, and 26 irregular migrants were not allowed into Poland on Sunday, according to the latest available information.

A total of 289 irregular migrants have been barred from entering Lithuania from Belarus at non-designated places so far this year.

Lithuanian border guards have prevented over 19,600 people from crossing in from Belarus since August 3, 2021, when they were given the right to turn away irregular migrants. The number includes repeated attempts by the same people to cross the border.

The SBGS says that illegal migration to Lithuania and the EU is being facilitated by Belarusian officials. 

Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into Lithuania from Belarus illegally in 2021.

 

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Swedish PM, Lithuanian leaders to discuss NATO summit, energy, support for Ukraine  

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is coming to Vilnius on Tuesday to discuss July's NATO summit, energy issues, and support for Ukraine with Lithuanian leaders. 

Kristersson is scheduled to meet with President Gitanas Nauseda, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, speaker of the parliament, and Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte.

Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO last May, abandoning their longstanding policy of military non-alignment in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.    

However, Turkey has blocked the bids, accusing Sweden of providing a safe haven for what it considers "terrorists", especially members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Tensions have been fueled recently by a protest in Sweden in which a copy of the Koran was burnt.

Lithuania expects Sweden and Finland to take part in NATO's Vilnius summit as full-fledged members of the Alliance. 

The leaders will also discuss sanctions against Russia and Belarus, the priorities of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, energy security cooperation and energy prices.

Lithuania and Sweden have recently asked the European Commission to mediate in their talks on the sharing of surplus revenue generated by electricity producers.

 

 

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Lithuania reports 571 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Lithuania has recorded 571 new coronavirus infections and no deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Tuesday morning.

Of the new cases, 425 were primary, 127 were secondary and 19 were tertiary.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 now stands at 129, including four ICU cases.

The 14-day primary infection rate has edged up to 132.2 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 21.5 percent.

The daily number of new coronavirus cases remains well below the peak of over 14,000 reached in early February 2022.

More than 1.17 million people in Lithuania have tested positive with COVID-19 at least once.

Some 69.7 percent of people in the country have received at least one coronavirus vaccine jab so far.

 

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Lithuanian president's aide welcomes proposed windfall tax on banks 

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – The Lithuanian government's proposal to temporarily impose an additional tax on banks' profits soaring on the back of rising interest rates is a welcome step, a presidential advisor said on Tuesday. 

"Encouraging socially responsible behavior in the financial sector, all of its participants, with a focus on a greater balance is certainly welcome," Irena Segaloviciene, President Gitanas Nauseda's chief economic and social policy advisor, told the Ziniu Radijas radio station.   

The so-called solidarity tax would even out the imbalances due to which interest rates on bank deposits are rising more slowly than those on loans, she said. 

The advisor also welcomes the Finance Ministry's proposal to use the proceeds from the solidarity tax for public purposes such as defense.

 

By Valdas Pryšmantas

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

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Lithuanians trained Ukrainian troops to use anti-aircraft gun

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS - The Lithuanian army has trained Ukrainian troops to use a Swedish L70 anti-aircraft gun and carry out military police operations, the army said on Tuesday.

Lithuania's Air Force trained L70 anti-aircraft gun operators who are able to prepare the gun for battle, fight against air targets, and carry out post-battle maintenance and minor repairs, the statement said.

After live-fire training, Ukrainian soldiers will be able to destroy enemy planes, helicopters and drones within a range of 5 km in all weather conditions.

Lithuania's Military Police have also completed a two-week military police operations instructor training course for Ukrainian soldiers to improve their knowledge and skills in professional tactics, traffic regulation and control, the use of special means, operational planning, and the protection of VIPs.

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Lithuanian formin calls for Saakashvili's release for treatment abroad

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has called on Georgia to release the country's convicted former president Mikheil Saakashvili for medical treatment abroad.

"Releasing Mikheil Saakashvili for medical care abroad would be the best solution – for him, for his family, and for the sake of Georgia’s European future," Lithuania's top diplomat tweeted on Tuesday.

On Monday, a Georgian court rejected Saakashvili's request for a postponement of his prison sentence due to his poor health.

The pro-Western reformer, 55, has been in hospital since last year after refusing food for 50 days in protest of his imprisonment which rights groups say is politically motivated.

The founder of the country's main opposition force, Saakashvili was convicted in absentia in 2018 for abuse of office and sentenced to six year in prison. He was arrested in 2021, days after his secret return from exile.

The politician's doctor says the country's former leader might die without proper medical care.

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Lithuanian parlt opposition collects signatures for extraordinary session

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Opposition MPs in the Lithuanian Seimas have collected the required 47 signatures for an extraordinary session to look into whether information about an investigation into the possible sexual abuse of minors against former MP Kristijonas Bartosevicius was leaked.

Agne Sirinskiene, a representative of the Lithuanian Regions political group, confirmed it to BNS that all the necessary signatures had been collected.

The agenda of the extraordinary session, to be held on Thursday, will include answers of Seimas Speaker Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen and Prosecutor General Nida Grunskiene to MPs' questions, as well as an initiative to set up a temporary investigation commission to look into a possible leak of information on the ongoing investigation regarding Bartosevicius.

The Seimas speaker and the prosecutor general will be asked to provide details of their meeting on stripping an MP of their legal immunity, what information was shared and when Bartosevicius' was mentioned, etc. The speaker will also be asked which MPs she shared information about Grunskiene's visit with and whether she contacted Bartosevicius.

On January 23, the Prosecutor General's Office said Grunskiene had turned to the Seimas speaker on stripping Bartosevicius of their legal immunity regarding for further prosecution of restriction of their freedom. 

The prosecution service's statement came a couple of hours after Bartosevicius confirmed that he was resigning as an MP. He added, however, that he had resigned for personal reasons.

It later emerged that the prosecutor general met with the Seimas speaker on January 20 to inform her about the plans to ask the Seimas to strip an MP of their legal immunity. Cmilyte-Nielsen insists that neither the name of the MP in question, nor the political group was mentioned during that meeting.

Last week, the Prosecutor's Office said Bartosevicius was officially suspected of alleged sexual abuse and molestation of four minors when he was still a member of parliament.

By Milena Andrukaitytė

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EUR 2.58 mln worth of cigarettes found in apple shipment in Lithuania

VILNIUS, Feb 7, BNS - Lithuanian customs officers have seized a record-high number of smuggled cigarettes this year as 2.58 million euros worth of cigarettes were detained in the country's second-largest city of Kaunas, the customs service said on Tuesday. 

Lithuanian customs officers have recently completed their pre-trial investigation into the seizure of a large amount of smuggled cigarettes in Kaunas on January 24. On that day, officers from the country's Customs Criminal Service, in cooperation with the State Border Guard Service, detained a group of five people, two HGVs and three semi-trailers in the Petrasiunai area of Kaunas. One of the semi-trailers contained 1,330 boxes of Belarusian cigarettes.

The illegal tobacco products had been smuggled into Lithuania hidden among 14.5 tons of apples. The HGV was driven to Kaunas from Belarus by a Russian citizen who was arrested at the scene. He declared at the border that he was taking the apple shipment through Lithuania to the Kaliningrad region. The man was arrested for 20 days and two other Lithuanian nationals signed written promises not to leave the country.

A total of 1,330 boxes (665,000 packs) of cigarettes were found in the semi-trailer with a total value of 2.58 million euros, including the taxes payable, which is the largest amount of smuggled cigarettes seized in Lithuania this year.

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Lithuanian National Drama Theater sacks playwright Ivaskevicius

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – The Lithuanian National Drama Theater said on Tuesday that it is dismissing its playwright Marius Ivaskevicius because his position has become "redundant" with the appointment of three new artistic directors.

Ivaskevicius says that the decision to sack him was not unexpected, but adds that it is the theater's director general who should step down.

"I thank Marius Ivaskevicius for his work at the theater and I hope that we will find other formats for successful cooperation in the future," LNDT Director General Martynas Budraitis said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Naturally, when the artistic direction and artistic director of a theater change, so does the creative team of the theatre," Budraitis said. "A new group of artistic directors takes over the helm of the theater's entire creative program from the tandem of Oskaras Korsunovas and Marius Ivaskevicius."  

"This is a consistent change, successive stages in the theater's development," he added. 

Ivaskevicius says that he was asked to leave his job "by mutual consent", but refused to do so and was fired.

"The director simply has a new survival plan to stay in his position, which I am not part of," he told BNS, commenting on the reasons for his dismissal.

The playwright said he will seek changes in LNDT and a new competition for the position of the theatre's director general.

"The person who has caused such a crisis in the theater should think about submitting himself to a vote of confidence," he said. 

Ivaskevicius took up the job as playwright at the LNDT in January 2021 at the invitation of Oskaras Korsunovas, the theatre's artistic director at the time, who was fired last December.

In late January, Budraitis announced the appointment of three theater directors – Kamile Gudmonaite, Egle Svedkauskaite and Antanas Obcarskas – as artistic directors.

 

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Lithuania launches competition for post of cultural attaché in Ukraine, Georgia  

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – The Lithuanian Culture Ministry has launched a call for applications for the position of cultural attaché in Ukraine, who will also perform this function in Georgia.

February 22 is the deadline for submitting applications, the ministry said on Tuesday.

The term of office of the cultural attaché is three years, with a monthly salary starting from 1,860 euros before taxes. 

The cultural attaché is directly subordinate to the culture minister and to the head of the diplomatic mission or consular post.

 

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Lithuanian president calls for Russia sanction agreement at preparatory EC session

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda attended a virtual preparatory European Council session and called on EU member states to agree on a 10th sanction package for Russia as soon as possible and to tighten the existing sanctions for Belarus.

"We need to leave no room for Russia and Belarus to circumvent the sanctions to avoid their impact one way or another. The effectiveness of sanctions is key to maximizing their impact. I propose to look for mechanisms to ensure this," Nauseda was quoted as saying in a statement released by the presidential press service.

Held in preparation for the European summit on February 9-10, the session was also attended by European Council President Charles Michel and the leaders of Romania, Spain, Luxembourg and Slovakia.

During the session, Nauseda also expressed his expectation that the EU summit in Brussels would include a fruitful discussion on Ukraine's European integration, Russia's accountability for crimes of aggression, and the use of frozen Russian funds for Ukraine's reconstruction.

The preparatory session also discussed economic and migration issues. The Lithuanian president stressed the importance of stepping up the EU's economic growth and competitiveness, strengthening the EU's single market, technological and productive potential, and providing adequate funding.

Speaking on migration, Nauseda underlined the need for pan-EU agreement on legislation to respond effectively to and overcome the challenges posed by irregular migration, in particular the instrumentalization of migration by authoritarian regimes.

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ECCs need more visibility – EU commissioner in Lithuania's Kaunas

KAUNAS, Lithuania, Feb 07, BNS - European Capitals of Culture need more visibility, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel said on Tuesday during her visit to Lithuania's second-largest city of Kaunas that was a European Capital of Culture last year.

She met with the ECC project team and said Kaunas' ECC year was a "big success" reflected by thousands of events and partnerships.

"We now have so many outstanding and successful Capitals of Culture that I see the challenge as how to give them more visibility," the commissioner told BNS. "I am going to take care of that as I had a great idea to organize an event in Brussels where they can showcase what they are doing and how useful and positive it is."

The second challenge, she said, is to build "a really strong network" among cities that are getting ready to become ECCs and those that have already held the title.

ECCs send a great message to young people that they can express their creativity at home without having to look abroad, Gabriel said.

Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys said that even though the ECC year was over, Kaunas still has its own continuous mission of talking about "Europeanness, values".

Lithuanian Minister of Education, Science and Sport Jurgita Siugzdiniene also met with the visiting commissioner and said that the visit symbolically brought education and culture together, which was also seen as an important factor for innovation in the context of Kaunas as the European Capital of Culture.

In Vilnius, Gabriel also talked about regional development, and she also visited cultural and heritage sites and discussed major cultural initiatives in Kaunas.

By Austėja Masiokaitė-Liubinienė

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Sweden would contribute to air policing mission in Lithuania after NATO membership

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Sweden would contribute to the NATO air policing mission in Lithuania after joining the Alliance, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in Vilnius on Tuesday.

"Sweden will assist with air presence to the NATO air policing," he told reporters.

Stockholm is grateful to Lithuania for supporting Sweden and Finland's NATO membership, the Swedish prime minister said.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-standing non-alignment policy and applied to join the military Alliance last May. However, Turkey is blocking these applications, accusing Sweden of harboring what it considers to be "terrorists", particularly members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

A protest in Sweden when a Koran was burnt have recently fueled tensions between Sweden and Turkey. However, Lithuania hopes that Sweden and Finland will already be full members during the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.

Kristersson says Sweden and Finland will also strengthen NATO's regional land forces after becoming allied members.

Sweden took over the rotating EU presidency early this year and the Swedish prime minister says Stockholm says it will focus on European security issues over the next six months.

He also stressed the need to support Ukraine as it's fighting Russian invasion, stating that Ukraine's fate is also Europe's fate.

By Augustas Stankevičius

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Sanctions have impact on Russia's economy – Lithuanian PM

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte says one needs to have patience regarding sanctions for Russia, adding that they do have an impact on Russia's economy, although not as quickly as predicted.

Although Russia's GDP does not look "as bad as it really is", part of it is made up of the war economy, she said.

"That Russia's GDP has fallen less than forecasters expected. I'll say very simply as an economist: the military industry's production results are included into the GDP, and that includes uniforms that will rot on Ukrainian fields, as well as the funeral services, and this way that GDP can. … look not as bad as it really is," the prime minister told a press conference on Tuesday after her meeting with visiting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The isolation of Russia and its accomplices, as well as the sanctions, need to be strengthened, the Lithuanian premier said.

"We see some signs there are attempts to circumvent the existing sanctions in some situations, attempts to deny the impact of those sanctions on the Russian economy, and I can mention once again that we must, first of all be, patient because a lot of the figures and assessments we see on the surface do not necessarily tell the story that Russian propaganda is trying to tell us," Simonyte said.

In her words, due to its primitiveness and focus on raw materials, "the pathways of impact on the Russian economy are not as fast as some would like them to be".

Diplomats are currently discussing a 10th package of sanctions for Russia. The European Union' has so far imposed sanctions on Russian individuals, certain companies, banks, channels, technology and other items. Nine sanctions packages have so far been adopted since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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Lithuanian PM: parlt speaker didn’t inform me about top prosecutor's plans

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS – Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte says Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen did not inform her about Prosecutor General Nida Grunskiene's plans to ask the parliament to strip an MP of their legal immunity.

The prime minister said the Seimas speaker had asked her whether the government needed the convention of an extraordinary session regarding her initiated projects, but the speaker did not mention the top prosecutor's request.

"That day, we talked about the need for the government to organize an extraordinary session, and she (Cmilyte-Nielsen) asked if there was a need for me, if I had any questions that I could bring to the extraordinary session," the prime minister told reporters on Tuesday.

"No, she didn't," Simonyte said when asked whether Cmilyte-Nielsen had told her about the top prosecutor's planned appeal.

The prime minister also said that both the Seimas speaker and the prosecutor general insist the name of disgraced MP Kristijonas Bartosevicius was not mentioned during their meeting

On January 23, the Prosecutor General's Office said Grunskiene had turned to the Seimas speaker on stripping Bartosevicius of their legal immunity regarding for further prosecution of restriction of their freedom. 

The prosecution service's statement came a couple of hours after Bartosevicius confirmed that he was resigning as an MP. He added, however, that he had resigned for personal reasons.

It later emerged that the prosecutor general met with the Seimas speaker on January 20 to inform her about the plans to ask the Seimas to strip an MP of their legal immunity. Cmilyte-Nielsen insists that neither the name of the MP in question, nor the political group was mentioned during that meeting.

Last week, the Prosecutor's Office said Bartosevicius was officially suspected of alleged sexual abuse and molestation of four minors when he was still a member of parliament.

By Milena Andrukaitytė

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Lithuania to send earthquake aid to Turkey and Syria – PM

VILNIUS, Feb 07, BNS - Lithuania will contribute to the provision of aid to earthquake-hit Turkey and Syria, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte says.

"Usually, we always react and provide support in such cases. I think that our competent authorities will simply submit a proposal to the Cabinet for discussion and we will form some kind of aid package because this is a very big disaster," the prime minister told reporters on Tuesday.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also confirmed in Vilnius on Tuesday that his country would also help the affected countries.

"We are not only discussing but we are already doing it. We are sending aid and we are offering even more aid. We would have done the same for every country that has faced such a huge disaster. I think there are many countries willing and able to help, that feel obliged to help, there is no doubt about that," he said.

By Austėja Masiokaitė-Liubinienė

 

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