LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN, November 7, 2023

LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

IN THIS ISSUE:

Lithuanian parlt rejects proposal to scrap ban on promoting LGBTIQ family concept
Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus for 7th straight day
Lithuanian formin hopes for green light from EU Commission on Ukraine's EU membership
Installation on White Bridge in Vilnius to commemorate hostages kidnapped in Israel
SBGS deputy chief: Lithuanian border guards’ weaponry should meet NATO standards this year
Lithuania reports 1,190 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths
Lithuania’s LTG Cargo asks law enforcement to probe transport of luxury cars to Russia
Lithuanian PM calls implementing ECHR ruling on LGBTQI 'matter of state's self-respect'
Lithuania’s LTG Cargo asks law enforcement to probe transport of luxury cars to Russia (expands)
Lithuanian formin has no doubt Poland will find shortest route to stable govt
Victims of Hamas attach remembered in Vilnius with installation for kidnapped people
Lithuania's LTG suspends re-exports of luxury cars to third countries from December
Two tank battalions to form core of German brigade in Lithuania
Lithuanian formin doubts over Bajarunas return to London
Lithuanian president says he does not accept "green light to despise the family"
Lithuania's LTG suspends re-exports of luxury cars to third countries from December (expands)
Lithuanian parlt rejects proposal to scrap ban on promoting LGBTIQ family concept (expands)
Upcoming events in Lithuania for Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Lithuanian parlt rejects proposal to scrap ban on promoting LGBTIQ family concept

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Lithuanian lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a proposal to abolish the existing ban on disseminating information among minors, "denigrating family values" and promoting the LGBTIQ family concept.

50 lawmakers voted in favor of the amendments drafted by the Justice Ministry, but 56 voted against and 19 abstained.

The proposed amendment would have removed the legal provision that defines information that has a negative impact on minors as information that "denigrates family values, promotes a different concept of marriage and family formation from that enshrined in the Constitution and the Civil Code".

"Hungary currently has similar regulation, and the European Commission has not only found an infringement, but has also filed a lawsuit," Justice Minister Ewelina Dobrowolska said when introducing the motion.

The amendments had been submitted following the ECHR's ruling that Lithuania violated the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on freedom of expression.

The Strasbourg court delivered the judgment in the case of now deceased Neringa Macate who challenged the suspension in Lithuania of the publication of her book Amber Heart. The collection of fairy tales, which depicts same-sex relationships, was published by the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences in 2013.

However, the university suspended the distribution of the book a few months later, citing as the reason a document from the Office of the Inspector of Journalist Ethics stating that Macate's book was harmful to children aged under 14.

The office said its position was based on existing legal regulations.

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Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus for 7th straight day

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Lithuanian border guards recorded no attempts to cross into the country from Belarus illegally for the seventh day in a row on Monday, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Tuesday morning.

Latvia reported 56 attempts at illegal border crossings on Monday, and 94 irregular migrants were not allowed into Poland on Sunday, according to the latest available information.

A total of 2,191 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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Lithuanian formin hopes for green light from EU Commission on Ukraine's EU membership

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Lithuania’s foreign minister expects a positive assessment from the European Commission on Ukraine's readiness to start negotiations on EU membership, but has no doubt that the subsequent discussions at the level of the heads of state will be difficult.

"The decision itself is kept under nine locks, but the visit of the president of the European Commission to Kyiv indicates that she would probably not go with bad news ... The expectation in the circle of many countries that support Ukraine, and certainly among Ukrainians themselves, is that the decision will be positive," Gabrielius Landsbergis told the LRT radio.

He stressed that the next steps would still have to be approved by the EU Council.

"The discussion there will be very difficult indeed. The European Union has been paralyzed on many issues for almost a year", the minister said.

Ukraine was granted EU candidate status last year and hopes to start formal negotiations later this year on what needs to be done to have its membership approved. The European Commission is due to report this week on Ukraine's progress towards EU membership.

EU Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, said while she visited Kyiv on weekend that Ukraine had “reached many milestones” on its path towards membership in the bloc.

"Reforming your justice system. Curbing the oligarchs grip. Tackling money laundering and much more," she said adding she was "confident" Ukraine would progress with the accession process when these reforms were implemented.

Along with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are also seeking to open EU membership negotiations.

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Installation on White Bridge in Vilnius to commemorate hostages kidnapped in Israel

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – An installation will be held on the White Bridge in Vilnius on Tuesday to commemorate the 242 hostages kidnapped from Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas.

The action will take place on the White Bridge for about an hour. The organizers say to have borrowed many of the materials.

According to the organizers, the action comes exactly one month after Hamas members invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, massacred civilians and took more than 242 innocent people hostage. The kidnapped range in age from 10 months to 85 years. The hostages include citizens of 42 other countries.

In the aftermath of the attack, thousands of people all over the world, from Australia to European capitals, in 30 US states, in South America and in Africa, have joined together to raise awareness of the hostages taken by Hamas and to call for their release.

Hamas militants stormed into Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 220 people hostage.

Israel has responded with a fierce aerial campaign that has so far killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

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SBGS deputy chief: Lithuanian border guards’ weaponry should meet NATO standards this year

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – The weaponry of Lithuanian border guards should fully comply with NATO standards by the end of this year, and the old Kalashnikov submachine guns will be abandoned, Antanas Montvydas, deputy chief of the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), has said.

"As far as armaments are concerned, 3 million euros was allocated last year which was spent on purchasing armaments compliant with NATO standards with the help of the Defense Ministry, and 7 million euros has been allocated for the same activity this year. We hope that our weapons will be fully compliant with NATO standards by the end of the year and we will give up the Kalashnikov submachine guns we have now," he told the LRT radio on Tuesday.

Until 2022, most of the SBGS officers were equipped with Russian-made Kalashnikov-type automatic weapons. Last year, the army handed over about 2,500 G-36 automatic rifles to the border guards. This year it plans to buy additional more than 1,000 automatic rifles.

According to Montvydas, the legislation would have to be amended and new functions would have to be assigned to the SBGS in order for the border guards to acquire heavier weaponry.

By Ignas Jačauskas

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Lithuania reports 1,190 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Lithuania has recorded 1,190 new coronavirus infections and two deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Tuesday morning.

The 14-day primary infection rate has risen to 207.2 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 36.7 percent.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals stands at 142, including nine ICU cases.

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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Lithuania’s LTG Cargo asks law enforcement to probe transport of luxury cars to Russia

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – LTG Cargo, the freight arm of Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG), Lithuania's state-owned railway company, has asked law enforcement to investigate a possible violation of international sanctions in the export of luxury cars to third countries.

According to the company’s press release, LTG Cargo experts responsible for sanctions supervision became suspicious about possible schemes to circumvent restrictions on luxury cars shipped to Russia.

LTG Cargo contacted law enforcement following an internal investigation.

The company claims that it has already taken action to prevent such shipments and has forwarded the investigation material it has gathered on possible sanction circumvention schemes to the Prosecutor General's Office.

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Lithuanian PM calls implementing ECHR ruling on LGBTQI 'matter of state's self-respect'

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS - It is a matter of the state's self-respect to implement the European Court of Human Rights's ruling regarding the bank on telling minors about LGBTQI families, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte says.

"It seems to me that it is a matter of our state's self-respect to correct those things," she told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday.

The situation is very clear, the prime minister said, adding that there is a Strasbourg court ruling and it needs to be implemented, although she predicted there might be a heated debate on the bill.

She also does not rule out that the adoption of the amendment could be delayed, but stressed that the ECHR ruling would need to be implemented anyway.

An amendment to the Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information is set to be submitted to the Seimas on Tuesday, and it would remove the existing ban on telling minors about LGBTQI families from the law.

It would remove the provision that defines information that has a negative impact on minors as information that "denigrates family values, promotes a different concept of marriage and family formation from that enshrined in the Constitution and the Civil Code".

The planned change follows the ECHR's ruling that Lithuania violated the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on freedom of expression.

The office said its position was based on existing legal regulations.

Politicians predict that the debate on this issue could become another divide in the Seimas, like the ratification of the Istanbul Convention or the legalization of civil unions.

By Jūratė Skėrytė, Milena Andrukaitytė

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Lithuania’s LTG Cargo asks law enforcement to probe transport of luxury cars to Russia (expands)

On Tuesday, LTG Cargo contacted law enforcement following an internal investigation.

The company claims that it has already suspended the transport of such shipments and has forwarded the investigation material it has gathered on possible sanction circumvention schemes to the Prosecutor General's Office.

“We have informed our customers that LTG Cargo is suspending the transport of all luxury cars by rail through the territory of Lithuania due to the unacceptable risk posed by businesses seeking to circumvent sanctions,” the press release quoted Egle Sime, LTG Cargo CEO, as saying.

It is believed that luxury cars destined for third countries – Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Turkmenistan – are in fact being transported to Russia.

An internal investigation by LTG Cargo into 447 Mercedes, Porsche Cayenne, Cadillac and other luxury cars transported by nine customers revealed that 75 of them were registered in Russia, 55 entered Russia through other countries and no data was found on the place of registration of the remaining cars.

Four companies were found to be involved in a possible sanctions circumvention scheme.

According to Sime, possible sanctions circumvention schemes are monitored continuously.

“Every day, we work with a team of experts to prevent every attempt to circumvent the existing sanctions and to trace possible schemes to circumvent the restrictions. We cooperate with the relevant authorities and take all the steps we can to prevent unauthorized cargo from reaching Russia," she said.

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Lithuanian formin has no doubt Poland will find shortest route to stable govt

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says he has no doubt that Poland will find the "best and shortest way" to form a stable government.

However, he refrained to comment on the Polish president's decision to task Mateusz Morawiecki, the incumbent prime minister, to form a new government, despite the fact that his party failed to secure a majority.

"I will not comment on domestic political decisions. Our strategic partner, I have no doubt, will find the best and shortest way to form a stable and effective government, and we will continue our assistance to Ukraine as a whole and our strategic partnership with the government that will be formed," Landsbergis told reporters at the parliament on Tuesday.

On Monday, Poland’s president tapped outgoing Morawiecki to try to form a new government even though his Law and Justice party (PiS) failed to win a majority in the general election last month. It lost its majority to the three opposition party appliance led by the Civic Platform (PO), but it remained the largest single party with the most votes.

Andrzej Duda, an ally of the current government, said earlier there were two candidates for prime minister – the incumbent prime minister delegated by the PiS, and also the country's former Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the main opposition leader.

The president's decision is expected to delay the formation of a functioning government, as lawmakers are unlikely to give Morawiecki the necessary approval for his cabinet of ministers.

Duda stressed that Morawiecki's party should be allowed to stay in power because it won more votes than any other single political force.

The president also says that if Morawiecki fails, he will ask Tusk's Civic Coalition to form a government as it;s the second largest party in the country's parliament.

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Victims of Hamas attach remembered in Vilnius with installation for kidnapped people

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS - Hundreds of heart-shaped balloons have been attached to chairs, prams and wheelchairs as part of an installation near the White Bridge in Vilnius to remember the Israelis kidnapped by Palestinian Hamas militants a month ago.

Balloons have also been attached to some of their photos, and also a screen on the riverbank shows videos sent by their relatives.

"Today marks exactly one month since 242 civilians were kidnapped from Israel, including babies, children, men, women and the elderly. This installation represents different age groups: prams represent children, chairs represent men and women, and wheelchairs represent the elderly," Liana Jagniatinsky, one of the organizers, told BNS. "We very much hope that they will return home to their families."

On October 7, the Palestinian group Hamas invaded Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking nearly half a hundred hostages. In response to the attack, Israel launched a bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip and is also carrying out ground operations.

Jagniatinsky says the aim of this act is to express solidarity with the families of the kidnapped people.

"They are going through a very difficult tragedy," she said. "And we also want to draw the public's attention to the fact that these things are happening."

The Jewish Community of Vilnius and the Israeli company Wix, which has a branch in Vilnius, also joined the campaign.

"Our aim is not to forget that the kidnapped people are still being held in some basements and we demand their immediate release," the community's leader Aleksandras Cernovas told BNS. "We pray that they all return home safely."

Yarden Vinitski, a 31-year-old Israeli who came to Lithuania for a few weeks to work, says the attack a month ago was particularly painful, adding that her relatives and all Israelis were in a state of uncertainty about the condition of the abducted people.

"Every minute that they are there it is so painful. We don't know if they are eating, if they are showering, if children are allowed to cry, to play," she said, adding that the least the community can do is to organize such actions that show support for the families of hostages.

"We want to support all those families, but we feel like family members of all these hostages," she said.

Israeli Ambassador to Lithuania Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein also attended the event and told BNS that the abducted people must be released immediately and the world must realize that Israel is fighting against Hamas, not the Palestinians.

"Sometimes there is a misunderstanding. We are in the war against the Hamas organization, not against the Palestinians. Unfortunately, this war is done in Gaza which is a very dense population area. Sometimes there is pressure and calls for a ceasefire without understanding that this is the only means for Israel to make sure those people come back home and make sure it wont happen again," the ambassador said.

The heads of all major UN agencies issued a rare joint statement on Monday, expressing outrage at the number of civilian casualties in Gaza and calling for an immediate humanitarian pause.

The Gaza Strip's health ministry says nearly 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel.

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Lithuania's LTG suspends re-exports of luxury cars to third countries from December

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS - LTG Cargo, the freight arm of Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG), Lithuania's state-owned railway company, will suspend re-exports of luxury cars via Lithuania to third countries from December 1, and they will be subject to enhanced checks in November.

The move comes after an internal investigation revealed that luxury cars shipped to third countries, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Turkmenistan, may be traveling to Russia in violation of the existing EU sanctions.

"The applications for November shipments were submitted and approved last month. Customers who submitted their applications in November and whose shipments will meet the requirements of the enhanced controls and who can prove beyond doubt that they comply with the sanctions will be allowed to transport these goods, provided that the shipments are completed by December 1," the company told BNS.

Earlier in the day, LTG said it would reject all applications for the shipment to third countries of cars valued at more than 50,000 euros and produced in the last five years.

LTG Group's Corporate Affairs Director Aleksandras Zubriakovas said that the existing international sanctions on the re-exports of luxury cars via Lithuania to third countries may have been violated through the falsification of declarations.

"The essence of this scheme is the submission of a false declaration where the car seller, the company, provides false information about the final destination, which is not difficult to check by the car's VIN code," Zubriakovas told BNS on Tuesday.

In his words, the re-exports of luxury cars to third countries, mainly Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, increased in 2022 after the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its attack on Ukraine. This year, LTG's tighter cargo checks have led to a slight drop in the flow of such cargo.

LTG Cargo on Tuesday turned to the Prosecutor General's Office, asking it to investigate a possible breach of the existing international sanctions.

214 wagons with around 2,140 cars went through Lithuania in January, which is 10 times more than in 2022 (21 wagons, up to 210 cars), and the value of these cars ranged between 70,000 and 200,000 euros.

By Goda Vileikytė

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

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Two tank battalions to form core of German brigade in Lithuania

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Two tank battalions should form the core of a German brigade in Lithuania, the German Defense Ministry has said.

They are the 203rd tank battalion from Augustdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 122nd tank and grenadier battalion from Oberviechtach, Bavaria. In total, the brigade will consist of three combat battalions as well as command and support elements.

According to the ministry, the third battalion will initially consist of the German-led NATO Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group.

The two battalions will be redeployed to Lithuania once the necessary infrastructure is in place.

This decision was taken on Monday by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, following a proposal by the Bundeswehr Inspector General.

The brigade to be deployed in Lithuania will be called Panzerbrigade 42. The brigade's deployment headquarters is expected to be moved to Lithuania in the final quarter of 2024. Germany intends to deploy a total of around 4,000 troops in the brigade in Lithuania.

Vilnius plans that the bulk of the German brigade will be deployed in Lithuania in 2026. The troops and their accompanying families are to be accommodated in Vilnius, Rudninkai and Rukla, but specific locations have not yet been specified as discussions have not yet been finalized.

The joint Lithuanian-German working group has agreed to sign the deployment plan by December 22.

The German defense minister said earlier that not only military infrastructure, but also social infrastructure, such as schools and leisure facilities, would have to be put in place for the arrival of the German brigade in Lithuania.

This is needed, he said, because German troops will rotate every three years, meaning that their families will also be coming to Lithuania.

Lithuania and Germany started discussing the deployment of a German brigade in Lithuania after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The brigade's Forward Command Element is already deployed in Lithuania.

Germany has also led an international NATO battalion deployed in Lithuania since 2017.

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Lithuanian formin doubts over Bajarunas return to London

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis doubts that Eitvydas Bajarunas, the country's ambassador to the UK who was summoned to Vilnius for consultations in mid-October, will be able to return to London.

However, the minister acknowledges that a decision on the diplomat's fate could take some time to agree with the presidential office.

"I have very serious doubts about whether that person could return to work at the embassy because of the protection of the staff, because these are people who are still working there. If the ambassador were to return, if we were forced, let's say, to return him somehow, I think people would be very much dissatisfied, that's a fact, and people would just leave," Landsbergis told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday.

Bajarunas is facing accusation of misconduct and working conditions from embassy staff in London. The Foreign Ministry's General Inspectorate investigated the complaints, found irregularities and proposed considering whether Bajarunas was fit to lead the embassy.

He was summoned to Vilnius for consultations in mid-October. The president called this decision "half-hearted", noting that it did not solve anything and left the diplomatic mission without a leader for at least six months.

For his part, Landsbergis said on Tuesday the situation at the embassy was good as it was carrying out all the functions necessary for Lithuania, and the staff felt safe.

Bajarunas has asked for an independent investigation, claiming that he is being psychologically abused by the Foreign Ministry because the leaked information is damaging his reputation.

Presidential advisor Asta Skaisgiryte said earlier President Gitanas Nauseda could only decide on Bajarunas' fate after receiving the conclusion of "an independent investigation carried out in accordance with all the institutional procedures".

Landsbergis says Bajarunas, who is currently working in Vilnius, is in a "very comfortable situation" because of the presidential office's position as he is still paid as if he were working in London.

The minister says such a situation "can go on as long as necessary" and stressed that he must protect the embassy staff.

Landsbergis also hinted that Bajarunas felt he had the support of the presidential office to "go all the way".

The foreign minister says he will continue discussions on how to deal with the situation, but noted that the presidential office "has pushed itself into a corner with very strong statements, requests for non-existent investigations".

Responding to suggestions that the ambassadorial post in London is allegedly being prepared for a specific person, Landsbergis also said that he would not rule out that someone from the presidential office might start working there.

"The president could send one of his advisers to London. I can certainly see some great people, and Asta Skaisgiryte, a former ambassador in London, I think she would be a great ambassador if she comes back, or some members of her team," Landsbergis said. "I would certainly not see any problem here: to prepare a place or to find a consensus among those people who are on the presidential team, first of all, if they are competent people who meet the requirements."

However, he stressed, any ambassadorial appointment is a compromise, so even if the aim is to send a specific person to London, Nauseda would have a veto on this issue.

By Austėja Masiokaitė-Liubinienė

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Lithuanian president says he does not accept "green light to despise the family"

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Tuesday that he is against "giving the green light to despise the family".

His comments came as the Seimas on Tuesday plans to table amendments to a law banning the dissemination to minors of information "that despises family values" and promotes the LGBTIQ concept of family.

"Allowing or giving the green light to despise the family is unacceptable to me altogether. I think I have answered clearly enough," the president told reporters in Pakruojis, North Lithuania, when asked whether he would veto the amendments.

The amendments drafted by the government remove the provision that defines information that has a negative impact on minors as information that "denigrates family values, promotes a different concept of marriage and family formation from that enshrined in the Constitution and the Civil Code".

Critics of the current regulation argue that the current regulation prohibits stories about LGBTIQ families in general.

The planned amendments follow the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that Lithuania violated the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on freedom of expression.

The Strasbourg court delivered the judgment in the case of now deceased Neringa Macate who challenged the suspension of the publication of her book Amber Heart in Lithuania. The collection of fairy tales, which depicts same-sex relationships, was published by the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences in 2013.

The office then said its position was based on existing legal regulations.

Politicians predict that the debate on this issue could become another divide in the Seimas, like the ratification of the Istanbul Convention or the legalization of civil unions.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 205 85 08, Vilnius newsroom

Lithuania's LTG suspends re-exports of luxury cars to third countries from December (expands)

VILNIUS, Nov 07, BNS – LTG Cargo, the freight arm of Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG), Lithuania's state-owned railway company, will suspend re-exports of luxury cars via Lithuania to third countries from December 1, and they will be subject to enhanced checks in November.

Earlier in the day, LTG said it would reject all applications for the shipment to third countries of cars valued at more than 50,000 euros and produced in the last five years.

LTG Cargo on Tuesday turned to the Prosecutor General's Office, asking it to investigate a possible breach of the existing international sanctions.

It is believed that luxury cars destined for third countries – Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, and Turkmenistan – are in fact being transported to Russia.

Four companies were found to be involved in a possible sanctions circumvention scheme.

Zubriakovas said he could not disclose the names of these companies.

"As this is potential pre-trial investigation material, and today, as you know, we have turned to the Prosecutor General's Office, we cannot disclose the names of the companies," he told BNS.

A total of 214 wagons with around 2,140 cars went through Lithuania in January, which is 10 times more than in the same period of 2022 (21 wagons, up to 210 cars), and the value of these cars ranged between 70,000 and 200,000 euros.

This comparison is important to illustrate the situation before the war in Ukraine and the start of the sanctions.

At that time, 1,039 wagons with around 10,400 cars passed through Lithuania in January-August, 4 times more than in the same period last year (225 wagons with around 2,250 cars).

By Goda Vileikytė

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

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Lithuanian parlt rejects proposal to scrap ban on promoting LGBTIQ family concept (expands)

(Updated version: updates throughout)

50 lawmakers voted in favor of the amendments drafted by the Justice Ministry, but 56 voted against and 19 abstained.

The opposition mostly voted against the bill, except for four members, and the Freedom Party, part of the ruling block, unanimously voted in favor.

A number of members of the ruling conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats also voted against.

The office said its position was based on existing legal regulations.

Agne Sirinskiene, a member of the non-attached political group in the Seimas, said before the vote that when listening to the minister's arguments, one got the impression that the Seimas as hosting a "party of lies and liars".

"The adoption of this bill is not necessary for the implementation of the ECHR ruling," she said, adding that the existing law prohibits denigrating family values and the promotion of the LGBTIQ concept of family, not the provision of information.

"Neither denigrating, nor promotion amount to simple provision of information. What the minister is doing now, by wanting to remove this restriction, is in fact allowing denigrating family values in front of children, encouraging children to enter into different marriages, homosexual marriages," Sirinskiene said.

For his part, Andrius Mazuronis, leader of the opposition Labor Party, also said that the ECHR's decision could be implemented without changing the law.

"It seems to me that we have a very simple practice in lawmaking: if you can leave a law unchanged, if its provisions do not pose any practical difficulties in implementation, then you simply do not need to change them," the politician said.

In a Facebook post after the vote, Dobrowolska said "the Seimas has disappointed a lot of people today because this bill has never had such broad support as it has today".

"Writers and translators have expressed concern about the right to expression, psychologists have talked about the emotional state of society and the bullying that continues to be instigated, and, of course, there's concern among members of the LGBTQ+ community who are only seeking equal rights. It is not surprising that the Seimas is shy to loudly declare at home what Lithuania has consistently supported in all EU formats: that homosexual citizens are equal, their families are families and their love is love," the minister said.

"However, it is very disappointing that today's motion submitted to the Seimas would have implemented the ECHR's ruling in the case of Macate vs. Lithuania. The ECHR Grand Chamber's ruling that found that the 'protection of minors' in force in Lithuania today is incompatible with the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms," she said, adding that the Seimas failed the rule of law test and had "put Lithuania on the EU's substitutes' bench".

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Upcoming events in Lithuania for Wednesday, November 8, 2023

VILNIUS, Nov 8, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Wednesday, November 8, 2023:

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen to meet with Estonian Ambassador Kaimo Kuusk at 10 a.m.; to meet with Deputy US Ambassador Tami Waser at noon.

PRIME MINISTER Ingrida Simonyte to chair a Cabinet meeting and sitting at 1 p.m.

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Nov 10 2023

LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

IN THIS ISSUE:

Lithuania’s State Defense Council approves State Defense Plan
Upcoming events in Lithuania for Monday, November 6, 2023
Lithuania’s State Defense Council to discuss defense plan, intl mission mandate
Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus for 6th straight day
Lithuania: MP Zemaitaitis’ impeachment commission set to adopt its conclusion
Customs reports no more attempts to enter Lithuania with Russian-registered cars
Lithuania reports 88 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death
Lithuanian Seimas commission to adopt conclusion on legal immunity of MP Grazulis
450 extra officers to guard Lithuania's border with Belarus in two years – SBGS chief
Lithuanian parlt commission says there're grounds for MP Zemaitaitis' impeachment
Lithuania army launches exercise to test cyber incident scenarios
NATO jets in Baltics scrambled once to escort Russian military aircraft
Lithuania: Paleckis to be tried for defaming Kasciunas, expressing contempt for partisans
Lithuania to hold large-scale mobilization exercise next year
Court slaps EUR 70,000 fine on ex-Kaunas administration director
Ukraine must remain Lithuania's foreign policy priority – president
Lithuania to hold large-scale mobilization exercise next year (expands)

Lithuania’s State Defense Council approves State Defense Plan

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – Lithuania’s State Defense Council (SDC) on Monday approved the State Defense Plan, Kestutis Budrys, President Gitanas Nauseda's chief national security advisor, said.

"The main and the big issue of today's meeting was the approval of the State Defense Plan, which means that Lithuania has a public, simple and accessible document that tells how the state sees itself in wartime and the involvement of every citizen,” he said at a press conference after the meeting of the SDC.

He added that the plan foresees the place of every citizen in the country’s defense, "so that there is not a single citizen, company or organization that does not know what to do”.

According to the presidential office, the State Defense Plan has been worked out to ensure that the different elements of the global defense function as a coherent whole. It covers armed defense, mobilization and civil resistance.

The objective of the plan is to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lithuania against armed attack through the concerted efforts and resources of the Armed Forces and NATO, state and municipal authorities, economic operators, citizens, and their organizations.

The plan was prepared by a group of experts from the presidential office, led by President Nauseda.

The SDC also discussed the state of the State Mobilization System and the mandate for international operations and deployments in 2024-2025.

The military mandate in force since the beginning of 2023 provides for the deployment of several hundred Lithuanian military and civilian personnel to 14 missions.

According to the Defense Ministry, 60 troops are currently serving in missions, half of them in the NATO-led international operation in Iraq.

Discussions on next year's missions took place in the context of Lithuania's declining involvement in these operations and the withdrawal of some countries from hot spots.

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Upcoming events in Lithuania for Monday, November 6, 2023

VILNIUS, Nov 6, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Monday, November 6, 2023:

PRESIDENT Gitanas Nauseda meet with heads of Lithuania's diplomatic representations at 9 a.m.; to chair a State Defense Council meeting at 2 p.m., followed by comments by SDC Secretary Kestutis Budry and meeting participants at 3.30 p.m.

PRIME MINISTER Ingrida Simonyte to meet with heads of Lithuania's diplomatic representations at 11.15 a.m.; to attend a State Defense Council meeting at 2 p.m.

FOREIGN MINISTER Gabrielius Landsbergis to deliver a welcome speech at the World Liberty Congress; to attend a State Defense Council meeting; to meet with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom.

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Lithuania’s State Defense Council to discuss defense plan, intl mission mandate

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – Lithuania’s State Defense Council (SDC) will convene on Monday to discuss the State Defense Plan and a mandate for international missions.

The State Defense Plan enshrines the principle of universal defense, "where all state resources – state institutions, the private sector, NGOs and citizens – are mobilized“, the presidential office told BNS.

The plan is being prepared by a group of experts from the presidential office, led by President Gitanas Nauseda.

The SDC will also discuss the state of the State Mobilization System and the mandate for international operations and deployments in 2024-2025.

The military mandate in force since the beginning of 2023 provides for the deployment of several hundred Lithuanian military and civilian personnel to 14 missions.

According to the Defense Ministry, 60 troops are currently serving in missions, half of them in the NATO-led international operation in Iraq.

Discussions on next year's missions will take place in the context of Lithuania's declining involvement in these operations and the withdrawal of some countries from hot spots.

By Augustas Stankevičius

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Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus for 6th straight day

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – Lithuanian border guards recorded no attempts to cross into the country from Belarus illegally for the sixth day in a row on Sunday, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Monday morning.

Latvia reported 21 attempts at illegal border crossings on Sunday, and 61 irregular migrants were not allowed into Poland on Saturday, according to the latest available information.

A total of 2,191 irregular migrants have been barred from entering Lithuania from Belarus at non-designated places so far this year.

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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Lithuania: MP Zemaitaitis’ impeachment commission set to adopt its conclusion

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – The Lithuanian parliament's temporary commission looking at whether there are grounds for impeaching MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis over his anti-Semitic comments plans to adopt its conclusion on Monday.

“We will go through the proposals of the members of the Seimas and will adopt the final conclusion at the end of the meeting,” Conservative MP Arunas Valinskas, the chairman of the impeachment commission, told BNS.

According to him, the conclusion will be based on the insights of the experts – lawyers, historians and political scientists – who testified before the commission.

In October, the commission already discussed and voted on a draft conclusion, and then agreed that there were grounds for Zemaitaitis’ impeachment. However, this conclusion was declared invalid, and it was decided to try again to invite Zemaitaitis to the meeting. Moreover, the representatives of the opposition, who had previously boycotted the commission, decided to participate in its work.

Zemaitaitis, who had been invited to cooperate with the impeachment commission in various ways, never showed up at its meetings. He calls the commission set up by the Seimas illegal.

The impeachment of Zemaitaitis for his anti-Semitic statements was initiated by representatives of the ruling political groups.

Their initiative states that the public statements and social media posts of this MP are anti-Semitic and incite hatred.

In response to Zemaitaitis' statements, 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.

The MP, who has legal immunity, was questioned as a special witness in the probe.

The MP insists that there is no basis for his impeachment. He denies any anti-Semitic content in his posts and says that all his statements can be substantiated with international documents or historical sources.

According to the Statue of the Seimas, if a group of at least 36 MPs tables an impeachment motion, the parliament sets up a special investigation commission to look at whether there are grounds for opening impeachment proceedings.

The full parliament then votes on the commission's conclusion and if it decides that there are grounds, it asks for the Constitutional Court's opinion on whether or not the MP has violated the Constitution and broken their oath.

If the court states that there was a violation, the Seimas votes on whether to strip the MP of their mandate. At least 85 votes in the 141-member parliament are needed to pass the motion.

Zemaitaitis' case would be a second impeachment procedure during this parliament after lawmakers turned to the Constitutional Court, asking it to rule whether MP Petras Grazulis breached his oath and violated the Constitution when he voted for another MP.

By Jūratė Skėrytė

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Customs reports no more attempts to enter Lithuania with Russian-registered cars

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – The Lithuanian Customs has not recorded any attempts to enter Lithuania with cars with Russian registration plates for more than a month.

According to a clarification issued by the European Commission in September, cars purchased or registered in Russia cannot be allowed to enter the European Union.

"There are no attempts to enter with Russian plates now. We counted 70 [such attempts] in the first two weeks [58 in the first]. There is no problem with cars with Russian-registered plates trying to enter Lithuania. The problem was in the first week, then those entering got that information quickly and stopped trying to enter," Irmina Frolova-Milasiene, spokeswoman for the Customs Department, told BNS.

She added that cars with Russian registration plates that had previously entered Lithuania’s territory would have leave by March 11 next year.

"From that date onwards, measures will be taken – cars registered in Russia can be detained and even confiscated if there are such court decisions. So far, the customs authorities are not taking any such measures,” the spokeswoman told BNS.

Lithuanian customs officials warn those arriving at border checkpoints with Russian-registered cars that they will not be allowed in.

People travelling in such cars were also informed that if they attempt to enter Lithuania again, they might face a fine and confiscation of the vehicle for violating international sanctions.

In line with the European Commission's clarification, issued in early September, cars purchased or registered in Russia cannot be allowed to enter the bloc's territory. However, the requirements exclude cars transiting Lithuania on their way to or from the Kaliningrad exclave.

Sanctions that prohibit the entry into the EU of vehicles purchased or registered in Russia, as well as personal items, are aimed at restricting the entry of goods from Russia into the bloc.

Lithuania, together with the other Baltic States and Poland, has also imposed restrictions on the entry of Russian citizens both into the country and the EU.

Only Russian diplomats, dissidents, transport companies' employees, EU citizens' family members, and Russian citizens with residence permits or long-stay national visas from Schengen countries have been allowed into Lithuania since September 19, 2022.

Russian citizens can also transit through Lithuania by train to and from the Kaliningrad exclave.

Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland are also denying entry to cars with Russian registration plates.

By Ingrida Steniulienė

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Lithuania reports 88 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – Lithuania has recorded 88 new coronavirus infections and one death from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Monday morning.

The 14-day primary infection rate has reached 190.7 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 36.4 percent.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals stands at 120, including ten ICU cases.

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 Seimas commission to adopt conclusion on legal immunity of MP Grazulis

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – An inquiry commission set up by the Seimas of Lithuania will on Monday adopt a conclusion on the request by Prosecutor General Nida Grunskiene to lift the legal immunity of MP Petras Grazulis in the case of contempt for members of the LGBTIQ community.

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.

Under the Statute of the Seimas, once the prosecutor general's request is heard, an inquiry commission needs to be set up to look into whether there are grounds to lift an MP's immunity and whether the MP is not being persecuted for political convictions. The Seimas will then vote on this conclusion.

Prosecutor Jurgita Jasiuniene told the commission’s meeting last week that the statements made by Grazulis about the representatives of the LGBTIQ community had shown contempt for a group of people and that the allegations were based on the findings of linguists.

Grazulis was also invited to attend the meeting to present his position, but he only came to state that he would not attend and reiterated that the proceedings against him were a political crackdown.

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.

The Criminal Code stipulates that "a person who publicly ridicules, expresses contempt for, urges hatred of or incites discrimination against a group of persons or a person belonging thereto on grounds of age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, race, skin color, nationality, language, descent, ethnic origin, social status, religion, convictions or views shall be punished by a fine or by restriction of liberty or by arrest or by a custodial sentence for a term of up to two years".

This is the second time in this parliamentary term that the prosecutor general has asked the parliament to strip Grazulis, a member of the non-attached political group in the Seimas, of his legal immunity.

Grazulis' legal immunity was waived in December 2020 to allow bringing formal suspicions of abuse against him in the Judex case.

By Milena Andrukaitytė

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450 extra officers to guard Lithuania's border with Belarus in two years – SBGS chief

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS - 450 new officers are expected to join Lithuania's State Border Guard Service and guard Lithuania's border with Belarus over the next two years, Rustamas Liubajevas, the SBGS chief, says.

"The total number of additional officers over the next two years would be about 450 officers, and they would be assigned to protect the border with Belarus," he told members of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense, on Monday. "We want to strengthen border protection."

Additional officers would be recruited in 2024-2025.

"We have looked at our manning capacity, it would be difficult to organize training and fill posts over a year, apparently. That is why we have foreseen two years. We will start next year, when the budget is approved, and finish next year," Liubajevas said.

In his words, the recruitment of such a number of officers would be significant as the SBGS now has a total of 4,300 positions, including both officers and civil servants.

Before entering their service, new officers should complete a three-month induction course, Liubajevas said.

Lithuania's border with Belarus is also the external border of the European Union. Since 2021, it has been facing a flow of illegal migration, which, Lithuanian officials say, has been orchestrated by the Minsk regime. Lithuanian border guards have prevented 21,500 migrants from entering the country illegally from Belarus over the past more than two years. Some migrants have attempted to cross the border several times.

By Jūratė Skėrytė

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Lithuanian parlt commission says there're grounds for MP Zemaitaitis' impeachment

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – The Lithuanian parliament's temporary commission has unanimously agreed that there are grounds for impeaching MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis over his anti-Semitic comments plans to adopt its conclusion on Monday.

The whole Seimas is expected to vote on the issue later.

"On the basis of all the collected and assessed evidence, on the basis of the provisions of the Constitution and other legal regulations, and on the basis of expert interviews, the Commission has found that MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis deliberately, repeatedly, and purposely disseminated information about the Jewish people and persons of Jewish ethnicity that does not correspond to the truth (...) in his Facebook posts on 8 May, 9 May, 13 June and 14 June 2023," the commission concluded on Monday.

It states 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, and that he had committed these acts for purposes that were possibly incompatible with the rights and obligations conferred by his mandate as a member of the Seimas.

"For these reasons, the commission concludes that Zemaitkaitis' actions can be deemed as incitement to national, racial, religious or social hatred, violence and discrimination, defamation and disinformation, which are incompatible with the freedom of expression (...),"the approved conclusion reads.

In early October, the commission already discussed and voted on a draft conclusion, and then agreed that there were grounds for Zemaitaitis’ impeachment. However, this conclusion was declared invalid, and it was decided to try again to invite Zemaitaitis to the meeting. Moreover, the representatives of the opposition, who had previously boycotted the commission, decided to participate in its work.

Zemaitaitis, who had been invited to cooperate with the impeachment commission in various ways, never showed up at its meetings. He calls the commission set up by the Seimas illegal.

The impeachment of Zemaitaitis for his anti-Semitic statements was initiated by representatives of the ruling political groups.

Their initiative states that the public statements and social media posts of this MP are anti-Semitic and incite hatred.

The MP, who has legal immunity, was questioned as a special witness in the probe.

If the court states that there was a violation, the Seimas votes on whether to strip the MP of their mandate. At least 85 votes in the 141-member parliament are needed to pass the motion.

The impeachment text quotes Zemaitaitis' social media posts, such as "It turns out that, besides Putin, another animal has emerged in the world – ISRAEL" or "We, the Lithuanian nation, must never forget the Jews and the Russians who very actively contributed to the DESTRUCTION OF OUR PEOPLE!", and others.

"After such events, it is no wonder why such sayings are born: 'A Jew climbed a ladder and fell down accidentally. Take a stick, children, and kill that little Jew'," the MP wrote earlier this year, referring to a folk counting-out rhyme.

By Jūratė Skėrytė

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Lithuania army launches exercise to test cyber incident scenarios

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS - The Lithuanian army on Monday started the active part of its Amber Mist 2023 cyber defense exercise to test various cyber incidents scenarios.

During the exercise, an incident center (Red Team) will be set up to act as the "bad guys" for the scenario development, and a cyber incident response teams (Blue Team) will be set up to deal with any challenges posed by the Red Team.

The exercise will test a number of scenarios, including the disruption of communication, noise causing and the installation of a malicious code or a physical network hack, the army said.

These scenarios will assess the ability of the military, public authorities and civilian sector companies to identify, analyze and prevent such cyber incidents.

The exercise will apply things learned from the NATO summit in Vilnius and other events and daily experiences of the institutions.

The exercise involves nearly 300 participants from Lithuania, Latvia, the US, Georgia, Ukraine and the EU's Croatia-led Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) force.

Institutions under the Defense Ministry, the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, as well as representatives of state institutions, universities and civilian information technology companies will also take part in the exercise.

Such exercises have been organized since 2013.

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NATO jets in Baltics scrambled once to escort Russian military aircraft

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – NATO fighter jets, stationed in the Baltic States as part of the NATO air policing mission, were scrambled once last week to identify and escort military aircraft of the Russian Federation in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea, the Defense Ministry reported on Monday.

On Sunday, NATO fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an AN-26 of the Russian Federation flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad without submitting a flight plan, without using the onboard transponder, and without keeping radio contact with the regional air traffic control center.

The NATO air policing mission in the Baltic States is carried out from Lithuania and Estonia.

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Lithuania: Paleckis to be tried for defaming Kasciunas, expressing contempt for partisans

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS – Algirdas Paleckis, a controversial figure serving a sentence for preparation to spy for Russia, will be tried for defaming MP Laurynas Kasciunas, chairman of the Lithuanian parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense (CNSD), and for expressing contempt for partisans.

In September 2022, Algirdas Paleckis publicly made false, untrue and demeaning statements about a Member of the Seimas in a social network channel, allegedly with the aim of defaming and humiliating the MP, the Prosecutor's Office said in a press release on Monday.

Moreover, according to the Prosecutor's Office, when speaking about Lithuania's post-war armed resistance, Paleckis presented it as a damage to Lithuania caused by the United States, and thereby allegedly belittled the participants of the post-war armed resistance, attributing to them only negative motives for the struggle and concealing the purpose of the resistance struggle to defend Lithuania's freedom.

"By this offensive and public statement, the accused denied and grossly downplayed the accountability of the USSR for the deaths of people during the genocide during the post-war armed resistance in Lithuania, shifting responsibility to the United States and hiding the role of the USSR, and belittled the participants of the post-war armed resistance in Lithuania," the press release said.

The criminal case of defamation and public support for, denial of, or gross trivialization of international crimes, crimes committed by the USSR or Nazi Germany has been transferred to the Kaunas District Court.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the defendant does not admit his guilt.

Paleckis' liability is aggravated by the fact that he has committed the offence while being convicted for a deliberate offence before the expiry of the criminal record, i.e. while being a repeat offender.

The Criminal Code imposes a maximum penalty of up to one year's imprisonment for defamation, and up to two years' imprisonment for denying international crimes.

Paleckis was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of espionage. Later, however, his actions were reclassified as preparation to spy for Russia and his prison sentence was reduced by six months, to five years and a half.

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Lithuania to hold large-scale mobilization exercise next year

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS - A large-scale mobilization exercise will be organized in Lithuania next year, Kestutis Budrys, a presidential advisor, said after the State Defense Council meeting on Monday.

"Next year we plan to organize a large-scale general mobilization exercise to check how our whole system works," he said.

The SDC also assessed the work done on mobilization over the last two years, he said.

Also on Monday the SDC approved the country's State Defense Plan that enshrines the principle of universal defense, "where all state resources – state institutions, the private sector, NGOs and citizens – are mobilized“.

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Court slaps EUR 70,000 fine on ex-Kaunas administration director

KAUNAS, Nov 06, BNS – A court on Monday slapped Vilius Siliauskas, former city administration director in Kaunas, Lithuania's second-largest city, with a 70,000-euro fine for bribery.

Taking into account the time spent in detention, Siliauskas will have to pay 65,000 euros.

Siliauskas was convicted of directly demanding and accepting a total of 260,000 euros in bribes from Juozas Kriauciunas, the head of Autokausta, for his own benefit between 2021 and 2022 when he still served as the director of Kaunas city municipal administration.

Judge Audrius Meilutis of the Kaunas Regional Court announced on Monday that the amount of the bribe would also be recovered from Siliauskas.

Also, he was banned from the civil service for seven years.

Siliauskas fully admitted his guilt in court.

The court decision has not yet entered into force and may be appealed.

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Ukraine must remain Lithuania's foreign policy priority – president

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS - Lithuania's diplomatic efforts should be directed towards pooling international support for Ukraine as the international community's attention turns to new conflicts breaking out around the world, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told diplomats on Monday.

New conflicts breaking out in various parts of the world are diverting the international community's attention away from Russia's war in Ukraine and, more generally, from Russia's aggressive foreign policy intentions, Nauseda underlined.

"Ukraine has been and will continue to be of existential importance to us. And all diplomatic efforts must be focused on this priority. War fatigue cannot be allowed to set in, no matter what happens. We must continue to consistently mobilize comprehensive international support for Ukraine, raise the issues of Russia's responsibility for aggression and war crimes, and keep Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic perspective on the international agenda," the president said at his annual meeting with heads of diplomatic missions, representations to international organizations and consular establishments, held to discuss foreign policy issues, the regional and global geopolitical and security situation, and Lithuania's foreign policy goals and priorities.

Addressing the diplomats, Nauseda said that the international situation was rapidly deteriorating, the world was increasingly unstable, and there were more and more attempts to replace international law and diplomacy with brute force, according to the statement released by the presidential press service.

Recently, he said, the number of hotbeds of aggression and military conflicts has increased, and the element of surprise has come to dominate international processes. These trends pose even greater challenges for Lithuania and its diplomatic posture in the world, the president said, adding that the diplomatic service must be ready to act in this environment of geopolitical uncertainty.

In his speech, the Lithuanian president also stressed the importance of fostering transatlantic ties and effective functioning of NATO and the EU, and the necessity to act together with allies and partners to defend democratic values and the rules-based international order.

Nauseda thanked the country's diplomats who contributed to the successful organization of the NATO summit in Vilnius and said that it was now necessary to focus on the implementation of the important decisions made in Vilnius and to seriously prepare for the NATO summit in Washington.

The diplomatic service needs to be more focused, wiser and smarter than ever, the Lithuanian leader said.

As the military conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged at the weekend that the war in the Middle East was diverting the international community's attention away from the war in Ukraine, which, he said, is beneficial to Russia.

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Lithuania to hold large-scale mobilization exercise next year (expands)

(Updated version: new paras 3-4)

VILNIUS, Nov 06, BNS - A large-scale mobilization exercise will be organized in Lithuania next year, Kestutis Budrys, a presidential advisor, said after the State Defense Council meeting on Monday.

"Next year we plan to organize a large-scale general mobilization exercise to check how our whole system works," he said.

According to Laurynas Kasciunas, chair of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense, this would be a mobilization exercise for civilians.

"We have seven vital functions, and we need civilians to play a role in them," he said.

The SDC also assessed the work done on mobilization over the last two years, he said.

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Nov 07 2023

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