LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Thursday, June 20, 2024
2. Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus
3. Lithuania’s formin to discuss cooperation with EU with his Armenian counterpart
4. Seimas of Lithuania to vote on defense tax package
5. Airbus A340s scheduled to fly from Siauliai to Sri Lanka, Philippines ended up in Iran (media)
6. Lithuanian president says he sees better EC candidates than Landsbergis
7. No place for people of dubious reputation in financial sector – Lithuanian finmin
8. Lithuania’s Litgrid to hand equipment worth more than EUR 4 mln over to Ukraine
9. Attempts to circumvent sanctions up 5 times in three months – LTG
10. Lithuanian president: Europe’s unification process must be completed after EU enlargement
11. Lithuanian parlt OKs Vaiksnoras for chief of defense
12. Seimas of Lithuania adopts defense tax package
13. Bank of Lithuania restricts access to CENTROlink payment system for Foxpay
14. E-voting cannot be introduced in Lithuania without guaranteed security is guaranteed – PM
15. Lithuania’s de-sovietization panel calls for renaming streets named after Salomeja Neris
16. Lithuanian formin meets Armenian counterpart, voices support for EU rapprochement
17. Lithuanian food institute's ex-director found guilty in EUR 300,000 corruption case
18. Lithuanian parlt OKs annual quota for third-country workers, tightens recruitment
19. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Friday, June 21, 2024

Upcoming events in Lithuania for Thursday, June 20, 2024

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Thursday, June 20, 2024:

PRESIDENT Gitanas Nauseda to meet with EU ambassadors accredited to Lithuania at 10 a.m.

FOREIGN MINISTER Gabrielius Landsbergis to meet with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan at 1.20 p.m., followed by a joint press conference.

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Lithuania records no illegal border crossings from Belarus

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – Lithuanian border guards recorded no attempts to cross into the country from Belarus illegally for the third day in a row on Wednesday, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Thursday morning.

Latvia reported no attempts at illegal border crossings on Wednesday, too, and 62 irregular migrants were not allowed into Poland on Tuesday, according to the latest available information.

A total of 237 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.

Lithuanian border guards have prevented a total of more than 22,000 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.

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Lithuania’s formin to discuss cooperation with EU with his Armenian counterpart

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis will meet with Ararat Mirzoyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, in Vilnius on Thursday.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the ministers will discuss cooperation between Lithuania and Armenia at bilateral and international level, the situation in Armenia, democratic reforms and the country's ambition to strengthen cooperation with the European Union (EU), as well as the situation in the South Caucasus and the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.

Landsbergis and Mirzoyan will sign a memorandum of understanding between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and Armenia on cooperation on EU-related issues.

During his visit to Lithuania, the Armenian minister will also meet with the Speaker of the Seimas of Lithuania, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen.

In March, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for a broad public dialogue on the possibility for the country to apply to join the European Union.

This is yet another sign that the country is moving further away from its traditional ally Russia.

Moscow's full-scale war in Ukraine has intensified the EU's drive for enlargement, and Brussels has recently finally given the green light to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to start the long journey towards joining the Community.

Yerevan has reached out to Western countries, in particular the US and France, to seek new security guarantees.

Russia has been the main mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for decades, but in the last two years it has abandoned the area because of its war in Ukraine.

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Seimas of Lithuania to vote on defense tax package

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – The Seimas of Lithuania on Thursday plans to adopt legislation on the establishment of a Defense Fund and on the taxes that will finance the new fund.

This will allow to allocate 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to defense.

The additional funds for defense are to be raised by increasing the corporate tax rate by one percentage point to 16 percent, by raising excise duties on all fuels, alcohol and tobacco, by imposing an annual contribution of 25 million euros on municipalities, and by introducing a levy on a part of insurance contracts.

The ruling coalition's desire to increase the contribution of local governments to defense funding has stirred the most controversy in the Seimas.

Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste on Tuesday asked lawmakers not to hold back the projects, promising to review the government's proposals to redistribute a part of the personal income tax funds allocated to local governments.

The Finance Ministry's proposal will be discussed by the Committees on Budget and Finance on Thursday before the plenary session.

The opposition does not agree that municipalities should receive less of the income tax proceeds; the Liberal Movement – part of the ruling coalition – has promised to oppose the proposal to increase the municipalities' contribution to the Defense Fund, while the third coalition partner, the Freedom Party, on the contrary, has proposed to increase it, because, according to the party’s MPs, the municipalities are expecting to receive 280 million euros in extra revenue this year, and their budgets have grown faster than the state's budget in the past few years.   

The package also suggests lowering the annual income threshold, from 45,000 euros to 20,000 euros, for those working under a business license, which would result in higher taxes for some self-employed individuals.

The Seimas has already approved one initiative included in the package – a one-year extension of the temporary bank solidarity levy introduced last year.

The Defense Fund's solutions would provide additional funding of almost 298 million euros in 2025, more than 421 million euros in 2026, and almost 437 million euros in 2027.

Politicians in Lithuania want to boost defense funding to 3 percent of GDP to speed up the establishment of a military division, to host the German brigade assigned to Lithuania, which is expected to be stationed in the country by 2027, and to prepare for universal conscription.

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

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Airbus A340s scheduled to fly from Siauliai to Sri Lanka, Philippines ended up in Iran (media)

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS - Two Airbus A340s belonging to Gambia's leasing company Macka Invest Company, which were due to fly from Siauliai to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in late February, ended up in Iran, the vz.kt business news website reports on Thursday.

Their transponders were switched off once they entered Iran. Shortly afterwards, the aviation data platform ch-aviation reported on its website that one aircraft landed at Tehran's Mehrabad airport and the other landed at the Konarak airport in Chabahar in the south of the country.

A few days later, Flightaware's aircraft tracking website reported that one of the planes was at Kabul airport in Afghanistan, and then ch-aviation's database reported that it was back in Iran.

According to vz.lt, Mahan Air, an aviation company operating in Iran, this way got two of its aircraft in circumvention of the existing US sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program.

A third aircraft belonging to Macka Invest Company remained in Siauliai, but according to Aurelija Kuezada, director of Siauliai Airport, it was not allowed to take off because of the spare parts it carried.

"The plane was due to fly to the Philippines, but we assume that it could have landed in Iran as well. And nothing could have prevented that. So we just didn't let it go when we found out that the first plane had landed in Iran," Kuezada said.

Oro Navigacija, Lithuania's state-owned navigation service provider, told the website that the three planes did not raise any suspicions and their movement outside Lithuanian airspace was whitin the competence of air navigation service providers in other countries, so the Lithuanian air transport administrator no longer had any influence.

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Lithuanian president says he sees better EC candidates than Landsbergis

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says he sees better candidates for the European Commission (EC) than Gabrielius Landsbergis, the leader of the ruling Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD) and Foreign Minister.

"I see better candidates, especially considering that this will not be a position of a foreign policy commissioner," Nauseda told the public broadcaster LRT's "Dienos Tema" (The Topic of the Day) on Wednesday.

The president said that Lithuania's desire to have a foreign policy-related post is ambitious.

“We want posts that are either economic or related to the enlargement of the European Union, and if the position of a defense commissioner is created, I think it would certainly be worth competing for it as well,” Nauseda said.

He noted, however, that the President of the European Commission had not yet been confirmed and that the likelihood that the current President of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, would secure a second term was “not 100 percent”.

On Monday, Nauseda attended an informal EU summit in Brussels to discuss the distribution of key EU positions.

The president said after the summit that he would not be bypassed in negotiations on who Lithuania should delegate to the EC.

Landsbergis has been mentioned by the media and his fellow party members as one of the main candidates for a European commissioner.

The leader of the Conservatives has insisted he would not comment on these rumors and said that Lithuania is not late in confirming its candidate for the EU’s executive arm.

The minor partners in Lithuania's ruling coalition – the Freedom Party and the Liberal Movement – say they expect the main coalition party – the HU-LCD – to unveil its candidate for Lithuania's European commissioner soon and argue that any delay will leave the country with an unimportant portfolio.

According to them, Lithuania is already too late because other Baltic countries have confirmed their candidates – ex-Latvian PM Valdis Dombrovskis is expected to continue as an EC vice-president, while Estonian PM Kaja Kallas is tipped as the favorite for the position of EU foreign policy chief.

Landsbergis admits that he sees the need for the coalition to discuss the EC nomination, but notes that the coalition partners themselves do not raise the issue in their meetings.

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No place for people of dubious reputation in financial sector – Lithuanian finmin

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS - There is no place for people of questionable reputation in the financial sector, Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste says as the country's law enforcement and supervisory authorities investigate the activities of Foxpay, a fintech company owned by Ieva Trinkunaite.

"The financial sector is an area that relies on consumer confidence, so in any case, people with questionable reputation have no place in this sector and the authorities will have to answer those questions," she told the Ziniu Radijas news radio on Thursday.

She hopes that the reputation of one company would not affect the fintech sector's whole ecosystem.

"We have really good examples of companies that are successful, reliable and provide a range of innovative services to consumers and create high value-added jobs," Skaiste pointed out.

Foxpay, which operates in the financial sector of strategic importance to national security, came under the scrutiny of the law enforcement authorities after the central Bank of Lithuania launched a review into the company's operations back in March to investigate possible breaches in its governance, the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, as well as the possible illegal activities of its customers and the handling of their funds.

The Special Investigation Service is also investigating possible non-transparent activities at Foxpay.

As BNS reported on Wednesday, Trinkunaite lied to the government commission that vets the transactions of strategic companies about her links with Vilhelmas Germanas (formerly known as Vilnius Zidelis), who has served time for financial crimes, in order to acquire Litlab, a company that manages an office building next to Vilnius Airport, from ex-minister Monika Navickiene's husband.

Moreover, Trinkunaite was found to have failed to cooperate properly with the Bank of Lithuania as it's carrying out a review of Foxpay's operations.

On June 5, based on the government commission's conclusion, the government found that Trinkunaite was not in line with the country's national security interests and determined that she had no right to attend and vote at the company's shareholders' meeting or to exercise any other non-proprietary rights of shareholders.

Trinkunaite' ties with Germanas cost Navickiene her post as she was forced to resign last week. Skaiste has been temporarily appointed to cover for her.

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

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Lithuania’s Litgrid to hand equipment worth more than EUR 4 mln over to Ukraine

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – Litgrid will hand autotransformers and other equipment worth more than 4 million euros over to Ukraine, the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator said on Thursday.

“In preparation for synchronization with the continental European grid and modernization of our country's transmission lines and transformer substations, we are dismantling various substations, line equipment and materials that are no longer used in Litgrid's facilities but are in good condition,” a press release from Litgrid quoted its CEO, Rokas Masiulis, as saying.

According to the company, the Lithuanian and Ukrainian electricity systems use the same voltage, which are different from those used in many European countries. Therefore, the transformers and other substation equipment provided by Litgrid are suitable for the Ukrainian electricity transmission system.

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Attempts to circumvent sanctions up 5 times in three months – LTG

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – The number of attempts to circumvent the existing Western sanctions against Russia and Belarus have increased fivefold over the past three months, from 74 in May to 14 in March, Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LTG), the country's state-owned railway group, says.

While the group is looking into the new trends, it cannot yet say why the number of attempts to circumvent them has increased so much, Gediminas Seckus the group's chief resilience officer, said.

He did not rule out the possibility that this is an attempt to test the effectiveness of sanction controls.

According to Egle Sime, CEO of LTG Cargo, the group's freight arm, 4 wagons were turned around at the border in March, 10 in April and 62 in May.

Most of the infringements were related to the transport of fuel or petroleum products. LTG Cargo did not approve a single application for transport to Russia or Kaliningrad in the three months.

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Lithuanian president: Europe’s unification process must be completed after EU enlargement

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – The process of European unification must be completed after the enlargement of the European Union (EU), Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Thursday after a meeting with the ambassadors of the EU countries accredited to Lithuania.

The Lithuanian leader met with the envoys to discuss the results of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council, the current EU agenda, support to Ukraine, security and defense, and the new EU political cycle.

According to the president, the European Council decisions will be implemented on June 25, when negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on their accession to the EU will kick off.

Kyiv and Chisinau applied for EU membership shortly after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Europe is at an important juncture in its history. The fight for freedom and European values is taking place on our doorstep and the future of Europe is being decided. The results of the European Parliament elections point to the changing mood of EU citizens, which we must reflect in our decisions – in the EU's strategic agenda to build a strong, competitive and democratic Europe,” a press release from the presidential office quoted Nauseda as saying.

Speaking about the results of the Ukraine Peace Conference held in Switzerland last weekend, the Lithuanian leader said that it is the collective duty of the allies to demonstrate full solidarity with Ukraine and to support it until victory.

He also stressed the importance of effective military assistance to Ukraine and the need to make and implement decisions on assistance in a timely manner.

The president told EU ambassadors that Europe must strengthen its defense capabilities, increase investment in the defense industry and develop new financing instruments.

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Lithuanian parlt OKs Vaiksnoras for chief of defense

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – Lithuanian lawmakers on Thursday backed President Gitanas Nauseda's nomination of Brigadier General Raimundas Vaiksnoras as the country's next chief of defense after 110 MPs unanimously voted in favor.

Vaiksnoras is set to assume his new position for five years on July 24.

According to the Constitution, the president appoints and dismisses the chief of defense with the Seimas' approval. In Lithuania, the chief of defense is appointed for five years.

Vaiksnoras is currently serving as deputy chief of staff for military training at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE).

His has in the past served as commander of the Lithuanian Land Force, the force's deputy chief of staff for operations, chief of the Operations Department at the Defense Staff, and commander of the Iron Wolf brigade.

By Jūratė Skėrytė

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Seimas of Lithuania adopts defense tax package

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – The Seimas of Lithuania on Thursday adopted a package of the so-called defense taxes, initiated to increase the funding of national defense to 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

To achieve this goal, the parliament increased the corporate tax rate and excise duties on alcohol, cigarettes and fuel, and adopted the so-called Defense Fund Law.

The Seimas also decided that local governments would contribute 25 million euros annually to civil protection projects from their share of personal income tax proceeds.

The Defense Fund will be used to accumulate funds to cover the most urgent needs of priority national defense capabilities and civil protection reinforcement.

The law establishing the fund was adopted in a vote of 107 to two with 18 abstentions.

“This is the best investment in peace,” Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste said.

She stressed that “there is a strong signal” that there is political support for such defense funding.  

“This year we will be able to take decisions on acquisitions, to allocate money for advance payments,” the minister added.   

Amendments to the Law on Excise Duties, which would increase taxes on alcohol and smokes, were adopted in a vote of 116 to zero with five abstentions.

The excise duty rates on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products set by the Seimas will apply from 2025 to 2027.

Excise duties on fuel were increased shortly afterwards, with 67 MPs voting in favor. Annual increases in some of these excise duties are foreseen until 2028-2030.

As proposed by the government, the Seimas increased the corporate tax rate by one percentage point to 16 percent. For small businesses, it would rise by the same margin, i.e. by one point to 6 percent.

The respective amendment to the Law on Corporate Income Tax was adopted in a vote of 118 to two with eight abstentions.    

However, the parliament did not support the proposal by Lukas Savickas and Algirdas Butkevicius of the Democrats “For Lithuania” to increase the corporate tax rate to 17 percent.

Economy and Innovation Minister Ausrine Armonaite said that an even higher corporate tax rate would be detrimental to economic growth.

“Let's protect our investment climate,” she said.

As decided by the Seimas, 4.1 percent of excise revenue will be transferred to the Defense Fund in 2025, 7.1 percent in 2026, and 7.4 percent in 2027 and beyond.  

Also on Thursday, the MPs did not approve a proposal by the Farmers and Greens Union to transfer 80 percent of the Bank of Lithuania's profits for the years 2024-2026 to the Defense Fund.

Politicians in Lithuania want to boost defense funding to speed up the establishment of a military division, to host the German brigade assigned to Lithuania, which is expected to be stationed in the country by 2027, and to prepare for universal conscription.

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Bank of Lithuania restricts access to CENTROlink payment system for Foxpay

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – The Bank of Lithuania has restricted access to its CENTROlink payment system for the financial technology company Foxpay, which has come under the scrutiny of law enforcement.

According to the central bank, the restrictions do not apply to the company's payments related to the public sector.

“The Bank of Lithuania has not disconnected Foxpay from the CENTROlink system. In accordance with the CENTROlink regulation and in order to protect the public interest, the Bank of Lithuania has currently partially restricted the rights of Foxpay to submit payment orders and receive transfers through the CENTROlink payment system operated by the Bank of Lithuania," the central bank said in comments sent to BNS on Thursday.

CENTROlink is a payment system operated by the Bank of Lithuania, providing the gateway to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

Via its infrastructure, the Bank of Lithuania provides technical access to SEPA for all types of payment service providers (PSPs) – banks, specialized banks, credit unions, electronic money or payment institutions – licensed in the European Economic Area (EEA).

The central bank has been carrying out an unscheduled inspection of Foxpay and its owner Ieva Trinkunaite since mid-March.

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E-voting cannot be introduced in Lithuania without guaranteed security is guaranteed – PM

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – E-voting cannot be introduced in Lithuania until 100 percent security is guaranteed, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte says.

"The main question is security, and as long as it’s impossible to answer that security question 100 percent, that it is 100 percent secure, secret, but secure, then I think experiments in this area would be simply dangerous for democracy," she told reporters at the Seimas on Thursday.

The Central Electoral Commission presented a feasibility study on Wednesday, showing that there is a possibility of introducing an e-voting information system in Lithuania, but it is recommended to do so after minimizing social and technological risks.

"I believe this is a question for future generations, not for future governments," Simonyte said, adding that any e-voting system must ensure both data security and voting secrecy.

"To be honest, I am not the best expert on IT security, but I have not seen any experts who assure me that it is possible to meet both requirements simultaneously. And that is probably the main problem," the prime minister said.

Given that all democracies are now targeted by regimes that use information systems to wreak havoc, steal or falsify data, the issue of security in the current geopolitical context is crucial, Simonyte pointed out.

In her words, the experience of other countries shows that e-voting does not encourage voter turnout.

Carried out by Civitta, the e-voting feasibility study also concludes that the implementation of an e-voting project in Lithuania "creates more risks than benefits". These include the geopolitical situation and the loss of electoral legitimacy in the event of a cyber attack, as well as the public's lack of trust in public authorities and information systems due to misinformation.

Technological risks include the possibility of leakage and distortion of voting data, even with the most advanced ballot encryption technologies.

A market survey carried out during the study showed that the development, implementation and maintenance of an e-voting system from 2025 to 2038 would cost the state about 20 million euros. The report authors recommend acquiring a system already existing abroad and adapt it to Lithuania's needs.

By Jūratė Skėrytė

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Lithuania’s de-sovietization panel calls for renaming streets named after Salomeja Neris

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – Lithuania’s so-called de-sovietization commission is calling on the country's three district municipalities – Telsiai, Akmene and Radviliskis – to change the names of streets named after Soviet-era writer Salomeja Neris, but to keep the name in her hometown of Vilkaviskis.

“The overall assessment remains unchanged, but we have additionally adopted a recommendation to keep the name of the street [in Vilkaviskis], with an explanatory plate saying that this is her birthplace,” Vitas Karciauskas, Chairman of the Inter-institutional Commission for the Assessment of the Compliance of Public Places with the Prohibition of the Promotion of Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes and Their Ideologies in Public Places, told BNS on Thursday.

“As far as the other towns are concerned, it [the name of the street] should still be changed, it is enough that one main town has a street named after her,” he added.

At the same time, the commission recommended changing the names of other streets named after Neris in Vilkaviskis District.

The commission also proposes to change the names of the streets named after Petras Cvirka, a writer and Soviet activist, in the municipalities of Vilkaviskis, Jurbarkas, Telsiai, Akmene and Sirvintos Districts.

According to Karciauskas, the municipality of Zarasai District has been recommended to remove the monument of a Russian soldier with a rifle, which is located at the burial site of Soviet soldiers from the Second World War in the town of Turmantas.

The law prohibiting the promotion of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes and their ideologies in public places came into force in Lithuania in May 2023. The law bans any form of commemoration or representation of persons, symbols, information propagating totalitarian or authoritarian regimes and their ideologies.

By Greta Zulonaitė

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Lithuanian formin meets Armenian counterpart, voices support for EU rapprochement

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS -  Lithuania supports the Armenian government's reforms and closer cooperation with the European Union, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told a joint press conference in Vilnius on Thursday after meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.

"We support the government's turn to the path of European integration and its ambition to strengthen the resilience of the country and its society, and we welcome Armenia's bold steps in this direction," Landsbergis told the press conference.

"We are convinced that reforms and rapid rapprochement with the EU will best ensure Armenia's independence, security and economic prosperity," he said.

Landsbergis also is in favor of the EU's stronger role in Armenia and strengthening the EU's expertise and financial support for reforms in the country.

For his part, the Armenian minister said that despite the existing difficult circumstances, Yerevan had taken all necessary measures to implement its "ambitious reform agenda".

In his words, Armenia is strengthening its cooperation with the EU and is working together on the development of a national resilience plan and a new cooperation agenda.

Landsbergis and Mirzoyan also signed a memorandum of understanding between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and Armenia on cooperation on EU-related issues.

In March, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for a broad public dialogue on the possibility for the country to apply to join the European Union.

This is yet another sign that the country is moving further away from its traditional ally Russia.

Moscow's full-scale war in Ukraine has intensified the EU's drive for enlargement, and Brussels has recently finally given the green light to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to start the long journey towards joining the Community.

Yerevan has reached out to Western countries, in particular the US and France, to seek new security guarantees.

Russia has been the main mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for decades, but in the last two years it has abandoned the area because of its war in Ukraine.

By Vilmantas Venckūnas

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Lithuanian food institute's ex-director found guilty in EUR 300,000 corruption case

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS – Gediminas Pridotkas, a former director of Lithuania's National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute, has been found guilty of taking more than 300,000 euros of bribes, as well as of illegal enrichment and other crimes.

Pridotkas was sentenced to two years in prison, fined 18,000 euros and banned from holding any public office for five years. The verdict can still be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal.

The former civil servant was also found guilty of falsifying documents, fraudulent book-keeping and money laundering.

Pridotkas was found guilty of using a legal entity he set up with his wife, and 15 other related companies, to accept bribes from natural persons in return for favorable treatment during future public procurement tender conducted by the institute he then managed, the Special Investigation Service said.

A total of 23 people have been prosecuted in this case including Pridotkas' wife Evelina Pridotkiene, former interim director of the Department of Drugs, Tobacco and Alcohol Control. The total amount of fines imposed on them amounts to more than 77,000 euros, and 60,000 euros was confiscated during the process.

The National Food and Veterinary Risk Assessment Institute is the State Food and Veterinary Service's subordinate body that carries out risk assessment functions and laboratory tests in the areas of food and feed safety, quality and veterinary medicine.

The investigation was supervised by the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

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Lithuanian parlt OKs annual quota for third-country workers, tightens recruitment

VILNIUS, Jun 20, BNS - The Seimas of Lithuania on Thursday introduced an annual 40,000 quota for third-country nationals coming to work in Lithuania with the aim of restricting the level of how much workforce employers can bring in each year.

87 lawmakers voted in favor of the quota, one was against and eight abstained.

"We will have a real quota that will allow us to ensure that all workforce migration processes will be better controlled in Lithuania," Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite told lawmakers on Thursday.

The quota would amount to about 40,000 persons, or up to 1.4 percent of the number of permanent residents in Lithuania in July 2022.

Lawmakers also tightens the conditions for the employment of foreigners, requirements for companies, and the procedure for issuing temporary residence permits in Lithuania, the minister added.

"When tackling labor shortages, we certainly cannot overlook threats to our national security and prevent abuse of migration procedures," Bilotaite said.

The new quota will only apply to newcomers. Bilotaite says the quota was calculated after assessing the authorities' capacity to monitor compliance and the needs of the country's labor market. 

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

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Upcoming events in Lithuania for Friday, June 21, 2024

VILNIUS, Jun 21, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Friday, June 21, 2024:

DEFENSE MINISTER Laurynas Kasciunas and US Ambassador to Lithuania Kara C. McDonald to visit the US troops stationed in Pabrade at 10 a.m.

HEALTH MINISTER Health Arunas Dulkys to attend a meeting of the EU's Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

JUSTICE MINISTER Ewelina Dobrowolska to attend an official reception at the US Embassy in Vilnius at 1 p.m.

By Vilmantas Venckūnas

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