LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Taiwanese formin meets with Lithuanian parlt speaker, MPs, discusses relations
2. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Thursday, November 9, 2023
3. Twenty irregular migrants turned away on Lithuania's border with Belarus
4. Taiwan's formin to meet with MPs, take part in democracy forum in Vilnius
5. Lithuania reports 560 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths
6. Lithuanian parlt to consider proposals on Grazulis' immunity, Zemaitaitis' impeachment
7. 7 out of 10 voters would support Nauseda vs. Simonyte for president – survey
8. Lithuanian FM says hearing various considerations from EU members on Kyiv accession talks
9. Lithuania's CEC distributes state budget appropriations to political parties
10. Presidential election in Lithuania to take place on May 12
11. Taiwanese formin meets with Lithuanian parlt speaker, MPs, discusses relations (expands)
12. Taiwanese formin meets with Lithuanian parlt speaker, MPs, discusses relations (further expands)
13. European, African officials, UN, OSCE reps to attend Future of Democracy Forum in Vilnius
14. Migration Department revokes ex-Yedinstvo leader’s permanent residence permit in Lithuania
15. Ecofin: Lithuania to receive EUR 1.75 b in European loans, grants
16. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Friday, November 10, 2023
17. Lithuania supports Armenia's European, democratic orientation

Taiwanese formin meets with Lithuanian parlt speaker, MPs, discusses relations

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu met with Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen on Thursday and also held a meeting with other lawmakers.

"It is two good friends meeting with each other and sharing all kinds of things about bilateral relations. It was wonderful," Wu told reporters.

Speaking with BNS, Cmilyte-Nielsen, who has recently visited Taiwan herself, thanked the minister for the warm welcome she received in Taipei.

"We discussed ways to further step up economic cooperation and support for Ukraine," she said.

Wu also met with members of the parliamentary group for relations with Taiwan.

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Upcoming events in Lithuania for Thursday, November 9, 2023

VILNIUS, Nov 9, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Thursday, November 9, 2023:

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen to meet with Gary Kasparov at 11.20 a.m.

FOREIGN MINISTER Gabrielius Landsbergis to meet with Marija Pejcinovic Buric, secretary general of the Council of Europe.

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Twenty irregular migrants turned away on Lithuania's border with Belarus

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Lithuanian border guards have in the past 24 hours turned away 20 migrants attempting to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Thursday morning.

Twenty attempts to cross illegally into Lithuania recorded on Wednesday followed an eight-day pause in attempted illegal crossings,

Latvia reported 95 attempts at illegal border crossings on Wednesday, and 120 irregular migrants were not allowed into Poland on Tuesday, according to the latest available information.

A total of 2,211 irregular migrants have been barred from entering Lithuania from Belarus at non-designated places so far this year.

Lithuanian border guards have prevented a total of some 21,500 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 influx of irregular migrants to the EU's eastern member states from Belarus began in 2021 and is blamed by the West on the Minsk regime.

Almost 4,200 irregular migrants crossed into Lithuania from Belarus illegally in 2021. However, the vast majority of them fled Lithuania once they were allowed to move freely.

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Taiwan's formin to meet with MPs, take part in democracy forum in Vilnius

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS –Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, currently on a visit to Vilnius, will on Thursday meet with Lithuanian lawmakers and take part in the Future of Democracy Forum.

Matas Maldeikis, head of the parliamentary group for relations with Taiwan, earlier told BNS that MPs planned to discuss economic cooperation, the security situation in the Indo-Pacific, and support to Ukraine with the minister.

Meanwhile, Lithuanian leaders and the foreign minister do not plan to meet with Joseph Wu. According to political analysts, Lithuania's top officials are thus avoiding hints about recognizing Taiwan as a state, which are irritating China.

"We follow the one-China policy, which implies that we have no official contacts," Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters on Wednesday.

On Thursday night, Taiwan's top diplomat will participate in the Future of Democracy Forum organized by the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University and the Foreign Ministry.

The forum is attended by democracy activists and defenders from all over the world. As the IIRPS told BNS, "some of them face security challenges at home due to their activities, so the event's program is only available to the participants".

Vilnius' decision to allow Taipei to open a Taiwanese representative office in the Lithuanian capital in 2021 angered China and Beijing limited its relations with Vilnius and blocked Lithuanian exports and imports. This led the EU's appeal to the World Trade Organization early last year.

Despite the opening of the Taiwanese representative office, Lithuania maintains its "one China" approach stating that there is only one sovereign state called China and Taiwan is an integral part of it.

By Augustas Stankevičius

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Lithuania reports 560 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Lithuania has recorded 560 new coronavirus infections and no deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Thursday morning.

The 14-day primary infection rate has risen to 216 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 35.3 percent.

The number of new coronavirus cases hit the peak in Lithuania in early February 2022 when more than 14,000 new infections were recorded daily. Around 1.19 million people in Lithuania have tested positive for COVID-19 at least once.

COVID-19 incidence in Lithuania took an upward turn in mid-September after having stayed at a low level since May. 

Some 68.5 percent of people in the country have received at least one coronavirus vaccine jab so far, according to the statistics.

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Lithuanian parlt to consider proposals on Grazulis' immunity, Zemaitaitis' impeachment

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – The Lithuanian parliament is set on Thursday to discuss proposals to strop Petras Grazulis, a member of the non-attached group in the Seimas, of his immunity to face charges of expressing contempt for members of the LGBTIQ community, and also to start impeachment proceedings against Remigijus Zemaitaitis, another member of the same group, for anti-Semitic statements.

The parliament has already given its initial backing to the two motions, and lawmakers will now consider them and vote on them next week.

A couple of weeks ago, the prosecutor general addressed the Seimas asking to lift the legal immunity of Grazulis, a member of the non-attached political group in the Lithuanian parliament, so that prosecutors could charge him for publicly ridiculing and expressing contempt for a group of persons or a person on grounds of their sexual orientation.

Prosecutors launched an investigation against him on May 26, 2022 after Grazulis' statement in a parliament corridor.

On May 26, 2022, after the Seimas gave its initial backing to the civil union bill legalizing same-sex unions, Grazulis met several representatives of the LGBTIQ community as he was leaving the plenary session hall and called them degenerates spreading STDs, and said they should get treatment.

In Zemaitaitis' case, the ruling block is initiating impeachment proceedings against him for anti-Semitic statements, saying that the MP's public statement and social media posts are anti-Semitic and incite to hatred. Having assessed his statement and post, a special parliament inquiry commission concluded earlier there were grounds to impeach him.

It stated that the MP attributed serious and very serious crimes committed by other persons or groups of persons to the Jewish people, blamed the Jewish people as a whole for the actions of individuals of that nationality or of certain acts of the State of Israel or its institutions.

It is also pointed out that, when speaking about the State of Israel, Jewish persons and the Jewish people as a whole, Zemaitaitis "used derogatory, impersonal, stereotyping, dehumanizing rhetoric, and presented tendentious and biased evaluations of historical and contemporary events related to Jewish persons".

The commission stated that, as a high-ranking state politician, the MP had insulted and humiliated the Israeli ambassador to Lithuania, an accredited official representative of the State of Israel, had insulted the State of Israel, and had openly justified and endorsed statement encouraging violent crackdown on the Jews.

According to the Seimas Statute, if such a commission finds that there are grounds for impeachment and the Seimas approves this conclusion, lawmakers will have to turn to the Constitutional Court for it to determine whether the MP in question has seriously violated the Constitution and broken his oath of office. A simple majority is sufficient for that.

If the Constitutional Court were to find a violation, the resolution to revoke the MP's mandate would be deemed adopted if at least three-fifths or at least 85 members of the Seimas voted in favor.

Zemaitaitis, who had been invited to cooperate with the impeachment commission in various ways, never showed up at its meetings. He calls the commission unlawful, and accusations against him absurd.

For its part, the Prosecutor General's Office is conducting a pre-trial investigation into public contempt and incitement to hatred against any national, racial, ethnic, religious or other group of people. Zemaitaitis, who enjoys legal immunity, has been questioned as a special witness.

By Milena Andrukaitytė

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7 out of 10 voters would support Nauseda vs. Simonyte for president – survey

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS - Seven out of ten votes would go to Lithuania's incumbent President Gitanas Nauseda, if voters were to choose between him and Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte in a presidential election, according to new surveys by the 15min.lt news website

After combining the results of two surveys and summing up the answers of the respondents who said they would vote, the website predicts that if the two politicians were to face each other in the presidential runoff, 30 percent would support Simonyte and 70 percent would vote for Nauseda.

According to the Vilmorus live and telephone survey, 53.6 percent of respondents would have voted for Nauseda in October, while 14.3 percent would have voted for Simonyte. In July 2022, 47.6 percent would have supported the president and 16.4 percent would have voted for the prime minister.

According to the Nordstat online poll, 46 percent would vote for Nauseda and 28 percenr would pick Simonyte, compared to 34 and 29 percent respectively in July 2022.

BNS reminds that the Seimas is currently considering a proposal to hold a presidential election in Lithuania on May 12.

Simonyte has been nominated by the ruling conservative Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats. Meanwhile, Nauseda is yet to announce whether he will seek re-election.

Nauseda already faced Simonyte in the presidential runoff in 2019 and won after receiving 65.68 percent of votes against 33.04 percent of votes for Simonyte.

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Lithuanian FM says hearing various considerations from EU members on Kyiv accession talks

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says he is hearing "various considerations" from European Union (EU) member states on Ukraine's EU membership negotiations.

His comments came after the European Commission recommended opening formal membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova as well as granting candidate status to Georgia. However, a final and unanimous decision on this still has to be taken by national leaders.

"I cannot say whether the EU leaders are ready to vote unanimously, because it is a matter of a unanimous vote,” Lithuanian top diplomat told reporters in the Seimas on Thursday.

“We are hearing all sorts of considerations, Hungary, an opponent of the EU's geopolitical direction, has said immediately that it does not support such a decision, it has made remarks about Ukraine's democracy, and I always invite you to look in the mirror.”

However, he stressed that the European institutions have the leverage and bargaining power to find the solution.

"I want to believe that it will be found," the head of Lithuanian diplomacy said.

He also pointed out that the Commission had also expressed certain conditions.

The European Commission on Wednesday lauded Ukraine, saying that the government “has shown a remarkable level of institutional strength, determination and ability to function.”

But it also said that talks should only start once it has addressed corruption, lobbying concerns, and a law on national minorities.

"This must be taken seriously," Landsbergis said.

However, he said that "Lithuania is ready to stand with Ukraine on the road to reform, too".

"We will help every step of the way, we will mobilize coalitions so that there will be more help", the minister said.

The Community’s leaders are expected to decide whether to endorse the Commission's recommendations at a summit in Brussels on December 14-15.

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Lithuania's CEC distributes state budget appropriations to political parties

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Lithuania's Central Electoral Commission on Thursday distributed state budget appropriations to the country's political parties for the second half of this year, and one more party, the Lithuanian Green Party, received funding after the last municipal election.

Having crossed the 2-percent threshold, this party received more than 62,000 euros.

A total of 2.9 million euros has been allocated to 12 parties. The ruling conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats received the largest share of the funds – over 780,000 euros, followed by the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union with more than 478,000 euros and the opposition Lithuanian Social Democratic Party with more than 413,000 euros.

The Liberal Movement, part of the ruling block, received more than 235,000, the opposition Labor Party was granted more than 207,000 euros and the Freedom Party, also part of the ruling coalition, received over 168,000 euros.

Having several representatives elected in single-mandate constituencies, the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance received over 147,000 euros, followed by the Lithuanian Regions Party with over 99,000 euros, the Freedom and Justice Party with more than 83,000 euros, the People and Justice Union (Centrists, Nationalists) with over 73,000 euros.

The Democrats "For Lithuania" received funding under a different article – as a party founded after the last Seimas election but having a political group in the Seimas. The democrats received 176,000 euros.

Compared to the previous six months, the payouts have been adjusted by the results of the municipal election that was held in the spring.

A total of 5.8 million euros are planned in the state budget for political parties that exceeded the 2-percent threshold and they will receive 0.56 euros for each vote in the last parliament, municipal or EP election.

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Presidential election in Lithuania to take place on May 12

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS - A presidential election in Lithuania will be held on May 12, the country's parliament decided on Thursday after 119 MPs voted in favor, one vote against and one abstention.

According to the Constitution, the Seimas sets the date for a presidential election.

Last spring, the Seimas also announced that a compulsory referendum on the legalization of multiple citizenship would also be held on May 12.

If the first round of voting fails to elect a new president, the run-off will be held on May 26.

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Taiwanese formin meets with Lithuanian parlt speaker, MPs, discusses relations (expands)

(Updated version: updates throughout)

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu had an unannounced meeting with over a dozen Lithuanian MPs, including Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, at the Seimas in Vilnius on Thursday and discussed ties between Vilnius and Taipei.

Wu arrived in Vilnius as he continues his visit to the Baltic states, hoping to strengthen ties.

On the eve of the visit, Lithuania's leaders and Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said they would not meet with the Taiwanese minister because of the one-China policy and they avoid any hint of recognition of Taiwan, but the Seimas speaker received Wu for a few minutes in her office.

"It is two good friends meeting with each other and sharing all kinds of things about bilateral relations. It was wonderful," Wu told reporters.

Speaking with BNS, Cmilyte-Nielsen, who has recently visited Taiwan herself, said she thanked the minister for the warm welcome she received in Taipei.

"We discussed ways to further step up economic cooperation and support for Ukraine," she said.

Wu also met with members of the parliamentary group for relations with Taiwan. He downplayed the fact that he would not be having official meetings with Lithuanian leaders.

"Lithuania is such a good friend of Taiwan and we want to discuss with whoever people who are interested in working together with us so that the bilateral relations between Taiwan and Lithuania can even be better," he said.

"Frontline democracies"

Wu also met with members of the parliamentary group for relations with Taiwan in Vilnius, and will later participate in a democracy forum.

Speaking to reporters, the Taiwanese minister highlighted similarities between the two countries and called the Baltic states and Taiwan "frontline democracies" who "face the expansion of authoritarianism".

"In this part of the world, it's Russia launching war against Ukraine and also talking about Baltic states as part of the Russian Federation. (...) In the Indo-Pacific, China has also being expanding themselves, pointing that Taiwan is part of China. This is against the will of Taiwanese people," the minister said, adding that he feels the support of Lithuania and other Baltic states.

"We share the same values – freedom, democracy, the protection of human rights and the rule of law. (...) This is unlimited space for us to cooperate with each other and that's my purpose to come to this part of the world to work with each other," Wu said.

Later in the day, Taiwan's top diplomat will participate in the Future of Democracy Forum organized by the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University and the Foreign Ministry.

Vilnius' decision to allow Taipei to open a Taiwanese representative office in the Lithuanian capital in 2021 angered China and Beijing limited its relations with Vilnius and blocked Lithuanian exports and imports. This led the EU's appeal to the World Trade Organization early last year.

Despite the opening of the Taiwanese representative office, Lithuania maintains its "one China" approach stating that there is only one sovereign state called China and Taiwan is an integral part of it.

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Taiwanese formin meets with Lithuanian parlt speaker, MPs, discusses relations (further expands)

(Updated version: updates throughout)

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu had an unannounced meeting with over a dozen Lithuanian MPs, including Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, at the Seimas in Vilnius on Thursday and discussed ties between Vilnius and Taipei.

Wu arrived in Vilnius as he continues his visit to the Baltic states, hoping to strengthen ties.

On the eve of the visit, Lithuania's leaders and Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said they would not meet with the Taiwanese minister because of the one-China policy and they avoid any hint of recognition of Taiwan, but the Seimas speaker received Wu for a few minutes in her office.

"It is two good friends meeting with each other and sharing all kinds of things about bilateral relations. It was wonderful," Wu told reporters.

Speaking with BNS, Cmilyte-Nielsen, who has recently visited Taiwan herself, thanked the minister for the warm welcome she received in Taipei.

"We discussed ways to further step up economic cooperation and support for Ukraine," she said.
Wu also met with members of the parliamentary group for relations with Taiwan.

Wu downplayed the fact that we would not be having official meetings with Lithuanian leaders.

"Lithuania is such a good friend of Taiwan and we want to discuss with whoever people who are interested in working together with us so that the bilateral relations between Taiwan and Lithuania can even be better," he said.

"Frontline democracies"

Wu also met with members of the parliamentary group for relations with Taiwan in Vilnius, and will later participate in a democracy forum.

Speaking to reporters, the Taiwanese minister highlighted similarities between the two countries and called the Baltic states and Taiwan "frontline democracies" who "face the expansion of authoritarianism".

"In this part of the world, it's Russia launching war against Ukraine and also talking about Baltic states as part of the Russian Federation. (...) In the Indo-Pacific, China has also being expanding themselves, pointing that Taiwan is part of China. This is against the will of Taiwanese people," the minister said, adding that he feels the support of Lithuania and other Baltic states.

"We share the same values – freedom, democracy, the protection of human rights and the rule of law. (...) This is unlimited space for us to cooperate with each other and that's my purpose to come to this part of the world to work with each other," Wu said.

Later in the day, Taiwan's top diplomat will participate in the Future of Democracy Forum organized by the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University and the Foreign Ministry.

This is the first time a Taiwanese foreign minister visits the Baltic states.

Lithuania as Taiwan's gateway to the EU

Lithuania has the most advanced relations with Taiwan among all the Baltic countries as Vilnius allowed Taipei to open a Taiwanese representative office in the Lithuanian capital in 2021.

This move angered China and Beijing restricted relations with Vilnius and blocked Lithuanian exports and imports, forcing the EU to appeal to the World Trade Organization early last year.

Lithuania expects high-tech business investment from Taiwan. So far, the most notable example of the intensified bilateral relations is Teltonika's cooperation agreement with Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to share semiconductor technology.

Wu says Lithuanian businesses, including laser developers, can become part of Taiwan's semiconductor production and supply chains.

"TMSC is making an investment in Germany. Of course, it is not just that investment in Germany, we hope that we can bring lots of countries, lots of industries together to form that ecosystem and, of course, Lithuania will have advantage in that area," the Taiwanese minister said. 

Matas Maldeikis, chair of the parliamentary group of relations with Taiwan, says Lithuania wants to be part of the chip ecosystem because "it is part of our economic growth".

"We want to be a place through which Taiwan can discover the EU market," the MP told reporters after the group's meeting with Wu.

For his part, Zygimantas Pavilionis, chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, said they discussed support for Kyiv as it’s fighting against Russian invasion: "We asked for their help for further support in Ukraine".

Tallinn has announced that it will allow Taiwan to open a non-diplomatic Taipei representative office in the country to boost economic and cultural ties with the self-ruled island, but pledges to maintain the "one China" principle in political relations.

Wu says negotiations on the representative office will take time but he hopes it will eventually be opened and that relations will be mutually beneficial.

Asked whether he would seek to have Taiwan mentioned in the name of the mission, the minister said: "It is a topic that needs to be negotiated and this is just the beginning of negotiations. I won't be able to go into details".

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European, African officials, UN, OSCE reps to attend Future of Democracy Forum in Vilnius

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – Vilnius is hosting a Future of Democracy Forum, organized by the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, which will be attended by officials from European and African countries as well as representatives of international organizations.

They include Belarusian opposition activist Sviatlana Tsichanouskaya, Daw Zin Mar Aung, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, Jan Lipavsky, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release on Thursday.

The event will also be attended by special rapporteurs of the United Nations, representatives of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and prominent democracy advocates.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who is visiting Vilnius, will also attend the forum.

Participants are expected to come from nearly fifty countries representing different regions of the world. The Forum will also be joined by a dozen participants of the World Liberty Congress, which took place in Vilnius just before the Future of Democracy Forum and which brought together over 300 democracy activists this year.

The Forum will be held under the international Chatham House Rule.

"Today we are living in a period of many parallel crises. The war in Ukraine, the violence in the Middle East, the tensions in the South Caucasus or in the Indo-Pacific region. In such dynamic circumstances, we must not lose sight of the need to preserve and further develop democracy as the most precious and important part of our political heritage," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.

"Lithuania has a reputation as a haven for democratic forces. This is the foundation on which our own nation is built. These are the values we believe in and are committed to. That is why building a united community of democracies, mobilizing and coordinating our actions is more important than ever," he added.

The Forum will discuss how to empower democracy activists, human rights defenders and independent journalists, both inside and outside their own countries, and how to protect them from repression by authoritarian regimes.

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Migration Department revokes ex-Yedinstvo leader’s permanent residence permit in Lithuania

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS – The Migration Department has revoked the permanent residence permit in Lithuania of Valery Ivanov, the former leader of the pro-Soviet organization Yedinstvo.

"The Migration Department confirms that Russian citizen Valery Ivanov has had his permanent residence permit in Lithuania revoked. This decision was taken after the Migration Department carried out an investigation, analyzed publicly available information and received additional information from the country's responsible institutions – the State Security Department, the Police Department, the State Border Guard Service," the Migration Department said in comments sent to BNS on Thursday.

The decision was sent to Ivanov on Wednesday and can be appealed within 14 days.

LNK TV News was the first to break this news.

"When the court agrees that I have to leave Lithuania, my homeland, then I will have to consider this issue somehow", Ivanov told LNK.

In late September, Lithuanian prosecutors notified the former leader of Yedinstvo of suspicions raised against him regarding public approval of international and Soviet crimes against Lithuania as well as regarding assisting another state to act against Lithuania.

According to the Migration Department, even if the decision to revoke Ivanov's permit were to become final before the end of the criminal proceedings, he would be obliged to stay in Lithuania while the proceedings continue and he would be subject to detention measures.

However, he would be obliged to leave after the end of the trial and the entry into force of the decision.

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Ecofin: Lithuania to receive EUR 1.75 b in European loans, grants

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS - The EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels on Thursday approved an updated economic recovery plan "New Generation Lithuania", which provides for 1.75 billion euros of new investments, most of which will be loans.

"The Ecofin decision is the final one for Lithuania's access to concessional European loans. 

Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste says 1 billion euros will be allocated for business loans and other financial instruments, and more than 550 million euros will be provided in loans for electricity generation from renewable sources. A further 198.4 million euros will come as a grant from the RepowerEU initiative, the Finance Ministry said.

"We expect the first funds to reach the economy as early as the end of this year," the minister was quoted as saying in the statement.

After a fierce debate, on October 30, the Lithuanian government approved the updated plan agreed with the European Commission, despite differences with Brussels over the postponement of the tax reform deadlines for Lithuania when the Commission did not take into account the government's request to postpone the deadlines until early 2025.

The new plan adds new investments, including 2.3 billion euros in European grants and 1.55 billion euros in loans.

The delivery of the plan's commitments is linked to the receipt of funds under the EU's Recovery and Resilience Facility.

The new investments are expected to boost real GDP growth by 0.97 percent on average, or 492.5 million euros per year, between 2023 and 2027.

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Upcoming events in Lithuania for Friday, November 10, 2023

VILNIUS, Nov 10, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Friday, November 10, 2023:

PRESIDENT Gitanas Nauseda to open the annual Regions' Forum at 9.30 a.m.; to attend the forum's second part at 1 p.m.

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen to attend an international conference on violence again women and international child abduction at 10 a.m.; to meet with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky at 1 p.m.

JUSTICE MINISTER Ewelina Dobrowolska to meet with Marija Pejcinovic Buric, secretary general of the Council of Europe, at 11 a.m.; to attend a working lunch at the Dutch Embassy in Lithuania at 12.30 p.m.

FOREIGN MINISTER Gabrielius Landsbergis to meet Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky and hold a press conference after the meeting at 11 a.m.; to attend the Future of Democracy Forum.

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Lithuania supports Armenia's European, democratic orientation

VILNIUS, Nov 09, BNS - Lithuania supports Armenia's European and democratic orientation, Lithuanian Foreign Vice Minister Jonas Survila said in Vilnius on Thursday after meeting with his Armenian counterpart Paruyr Hovhannisyan who came to attend the Future of Democracy Forum.

"Lithuania values Armenia's democratic development and strongly supports the EU's mediation efforts towards a peaceful, sustainable and comprehensive settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict through diplomatic means," Survila said.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Lithuania actively seeks more meaningful and deeper cooperation between the EU and Armenia, as well as the EU support for the strengthening of Armenia's security and resilience, and the implementation of economic diversification.

During the meeting, the Armenian representative briefed Survila on the security situation in the South Caucasus region and the challenges his country is currently facing.

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