LITHUANIA DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Fourteen irregular migrants turned away on Lithuania's border with Belarus
2. Defense chiefs to discuss possibilities for stationing German troops in Lithuania
3. Lithuanian minister heads to Warsaw to discuss Belarus border closure scenarios 
4. Lithuanian intermin asks president to strip Kudimov of Lithuanian citizenship
5. Lithuania reports 7 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths
6. Defense chief: German conditions for deploying brigade in Lithuania remain unchanged
7. Lithuanian, Polish presidents discuss consequences of Wagner plane crash
8. Security situation remains tense after Prigozhin's death – Lithuanian defense chief  
9. Indian found dead on Lithuanian border with Belarus died of exposure to cold – forensics
10. Brigade in Lithuania allows Germany to repay debt for security – defense chief 
11. Germany expects to start deploying brigade in Lithuania early next year – defense chief (updates)
12. Germany expects to start deploying brigade in Lithuania early next year – defense chief (expands)
13. Minister asks president to strip Russian businessman Kudimov of Lithuanian citizenship (expands)
14. Intermin: Lithuania plans to close two more border checkpoints with Belarus
15. Borders with Belarus could be closed after armed, migrant incidents – Lithuanian minister 
16. Father who took child from mother, fled from Lithuania detained in Russia
17. Nauseda hails Germany's commitment to Lithuania's security as 'success story'
18. Father who took his child from Lithuania to Russia unlawfully may have dual citizenship
19. Lithuanians invited to donate school supplies for Ukraine as part of Caritas campaign 
20. Lithuanian president receives credentials from Estonian, Swedish, German ambassadors
21. NATO jets in Baltics scrambled 5 times last week to escort Russian planes
22. Kremlin fuelling passions with verdict for Lithuanian judges in 1991 crackdown case – FM
23. Upcoming events in Lithuania for Tuesday, August 29, 2023
24. Lithuanian banking body: banks will pay solidarity levy on time

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

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Lithuanian border guards have in the past 24 hours turned away 14 migrants attempting to cross into the country from Belarus illegally, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) said on Monday morning.

Latvia reported three attempts at illegal border crossings on Sunday, and 101 irregular migrants were not allowed into Poland on Saturday, according to the latest available information.

A total of 1,576 irregular migrants have been barred from entering Lithuania from Belarus at non-designated places so far this year. Some 11,200 irregular migrants were turned away in 2022.  

Lithuanian border guards have prevented around 20,900 people from crossing in from Belarus since August 3, 2021, when they were given the right to turn away irregular migrants. The number includes repeated attempts by the same people to cross the border.

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

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

 

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Defense chiefs to discuss possibilities for stationing German troops in Lithuania

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Germany's Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer is meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart, General Valdemaras Rupsys, in Vilnius on Monday to discuss the possibilities for Lithuania to host German troops.

Other topics to be discussed at the bilateral meeting include the security situation in the region and Germany's commitment to ensuring security in the northeastern flank of NATO and the European Union, joint training and exercises, and participation in international operations, the Lithuanian Armed Forces have said.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda is also scheduled to meet with Breuer. 

"The meeting will focus on strengthening NATO's eastern flank and military cooperation between Lithuania and Germany," the president's office has told BNS.

Germany has been leading NATO's multinational battalion deployed in Lithuania since 2017.

Berlin pledges to expand this unit to the size of a brigade once Lithuania has the necessary infrastructure in place to host the troops and if this is in line with other NATO plans.

The brigade's Forward Command Element is currently stationed in Lithuania.

Breuer attended the Military Tattoo Lithuania 2023 International festival of military bands in Vilnius over the weekend.

 

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Lithuanian minister heads to Warsaw to discuss Belarus border closure scenarios 

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite is set to meet with her Baltic and Polish counterparts in Warsaw on Monday to discuss possible scenarios for a complete closure of the borders with Belarus.

"Lithuania has prepared a border closure plan that has different levels, and we will present it and discuss it with our colleagues so that we can synchronously take the same actions and decisions together in response to certain threat levels," she told journalists on Friday.

Following Lithuania's closure of the Sumskas and Tverecius border crossings with Belarus earlier this month, Bilotaite said the Baltic countries and Poland were in talks over a "regional decision" on a complete closure of the border with the neighboring authoritarian country. 

Details of such a mechanism are expected to be finalized in Warsaw on Monday.

"Given the problem of smuggling and the need for us to have officers along the green border with Belarus today, we are looking into this and mapping out certain steps to deal with these specific issues," the interior minister said. 

She added, however, that there were currently no threats to warrant a complete border closure.

Belarus says that it has registered a total of over 400,000 visits by Lithuanian nationals since Minsk put in place a visa-free regime for Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish citizens in the spring of 2022. 

Meanwhile, Lithuanian officials warn of attempts by Belarus' authorities to recruit some Lithuanian travelers by using blackmail and psychological pressure.

 

By Austėja Masiokaitė-Liubinienė

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Lithuanian intermin asks president to strip Kudimov of Lithuanian citizenship

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite has formally asked President Gitanas Nauseda to strip Yuri Kudimov, a businessman, of his Lithuanian citizenship granted to him by way of exception. 

The move follows the recommendation from the Migration Department which has summarized the information provided by all the responsible authorities and concluded that Kudimov is engaged in activities that are incompatible with Lithuania's national security interests, the ministry said in Monday. 

Kudimov was allegedly involved in the management of Russian state-controlled companies and in non-transparent schemes for Russian funding of electoral campaigns in Western countries, and he still maintains contacts with influential persons in Russia who are linked to Russian intelligence services.

 

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Lithuania reports 7 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Lithuania has recorded seven new coronavirus infections and no deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, official statistics showed on Monday morning.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals now stands at 34, including one ICU case.

The 14-day primary infection rate has edged up to 23.9 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 19 percent.

The number of new coronavirus cases hit the peak in Lithuania in early February 2022 when more than 14,000 new infections were recorded daily.

Around 1.19 million people in Lithuania have tested positive for COVID-19 at least once.

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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Defense chief: German conditions for deploying brigade in Lithuania remain unchanged

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Germany has not set any new conditions for the permanent deployment of a brigade in Lithuania, the country's Chief of Defense, General Valdemaras Rupsys, has said.

“No, no [new] conditions have been set. We are now in the process of assessing, calculating all the options, how we could deploy," he told reporters on Sunday.

"The decision has been taken. Now all the other work is in the hands of specialists. It means deciding when, how much and where to deploy," he added.

According to Rupsys, more information on the brigade should be available by the end of September or mid-October.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Lithuanian and German leaders adopted a joint communiqué on the assignment of a German brigade to Lithuania, demonstrating the unity of the allies.

However, it later emerged that the positions of the two countries differed somewhat, with Vilnius wanting a permanent deployment, while Berlin believed that part of the force should be in Lithuania and part in Germany.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters at the NATO summit in Vilnius last month that Berlin expected to have a plan for deploying the brigade in Lithuania ready by the fourth quarter of this year.

The brigade's Forward Command Element is currently stationed in Lithuania.

Germany has been leading NATO's multinational battalion deployed in Lithuania since 2017.

By Greta Zulonaitė

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Lithuanian, Polish presidents discuss consequences of Wagner plane crash

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda had a telephone call with his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, on Friday evening to discuss the consequences of a plane crash that is believed to have killed Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and regional security issues.

"The Polish and Lithuanian presidents discussed the consequences of the crash of the Wagner (plane) that allegedly carried the group's leaders," Nauseda's office said in a press release on Saturday.  

Nauseda and Duda also discussed regional security issues, bilateral cooperation, and the objectives for NATO's summit in Washington in 2024, it said. 

The two presidents agreed to continue working together to secure an invitation for Ukraine to join the Alliance, according to the press release.

Reportedly, Prigozhin was on the passenger list of the Wagner-linked private jet which crashed in the Tver region on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board.

The incident come exactly two months after the mercenary group staged a mutiny against Moscow's military leadership.

The Kremlin on Friday strongly rejected rumors that it had ordered the assassination of Prigozhin. 

Russian officials say they have opened an investigation into air traffic violations after the crash, but they have not disclosed details about a possible cause.

Based on information available to Lithuania and Poland, there are currently about 4,000 Wagner fighters in Belarus, with some stationed close to the two countries' borders. 

Rustamas Liubajevas, Lithuania's border guard chief, has said that there could be up to 4,500 of them in Belarus.

 

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Security situation remains tense after Prigozhin's death – Lithuanian defense chief  

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – The security situation in the region remains tense, Lithuania's Chief of Defense General Valdemaras Rupsys has said following reports that Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is believed to have died in a plane crash. 

"The security situation in Europe in general and in our region remains tense due to the war in Ukraine," Rupsys told reporters on Sunday when asked how Prigozhin's presumed death changes Lithuania's security situation.

"The war in Ukraine is very intense and it looks like it will be protracted. So the security situation is really tense," the general said. 

"But we have to look at what happens next. We have to look ahead and at how we have to develop our capacity," he said, adding that Lithuania must be ready to deter Russia.

Reportedly, Prigozhin was on the passenger list of the Wagner-linked private jet which crashed in the Tver region on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board.

The incident come exactly two months after the mercenary group staged a mutiny against Moscow's military leadership.

Russia's Investigative Committee confirmed Prigozhin's death on Sunday.

However, some experts urged caution, saying that such information from Russian officials does not constitute confirmation of the death of Wagner's founder.

The Kremlin on Friday strongly rejected rumors that it had ordered the assassination of the group's leader. 

Russian officials say they have opened an investigation into air traffic violations after the crash, but they have not disclosed details about a possible cause.

Based on information available to Lithuania and Poland, there are currently about 4,000 Wagner fighters in Belarus, with some of them stationed close to the two countries' borders.

Rustamas Liubajevas, Lithuania's border guard chief, has said that there could be up to 4,500 of them in Belarus.

 

By Greta Zulonaitė

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Indian found dead on Lithuanian border with Belarus died of exposure to cold – forensics

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – An irregular migrant found dead in the spring in Ignalina District, in the river Dysna, which runs along Lithuania's border with Belarus, died of hypothermia, a law enforcement forensic examination showed.

The man was found dead near a marshy bank in early April and a pre-trial investigation was opened to determine the cause of his death.

Rasa Stundziene, spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, told BNS that the pre-trial investigation had established that the deceased was a 40-year-old Indian national. Documents issued in his name were found at the scene along with other personal belongings.

The Indian Embassy in Poland was informed by the investigating officers about the Indian national found dead in Lithuania. The deceased's relatives in India were found, but they did not want the man's body to be repatriated, so the foreigner was buried in Lithuania.

A forensic medical examination concluded that the cause of death of the Indian national was due to hypothermia. The pre-trial investigation was closed in the absence of evidence that the death was violent.

The Dysna is a narrow river with marshy banks. The Lithuanian-Belarusian border runs along the middle of its bed.

By Ingrida Steniulienė

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Brigade in Lithuania allows Germany to repay debt for security – defense chief 

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – The planned deployment of a brigade in Lithuania is an important project for the German Armed Forces as it allows them "to pay back for the solidarity and the feeling of safety" once provided to the country by the NATO military alliance, Germany's Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer said in Vilnius on Monday. 

"For a long time, Germany used to be a frontline state in NATO's eastern border. Allied troops were stationed in my country to defend every inch of our Alliance territory in the event of Russian aggression," Breuer told a news conference.

"Now it's time to pay back, to return the solidarity and the feeling of safety we have been given by NATO partners and allies for decades," the general said. 

"Therefore, Germany will (...) deploy a combat brigade to Lithuania," he added. 

Germany has been leading NATO's multinational battalion deployed in Lithuania since 2017.

Berlin pledges to expand this unit to the size of a brigade once Lithuania has the necessary infrastructure in place and if this is in line with other NATO plans.

Germany has said earlier that it expects to have a plan for the brigade's deployment in Lithuania ready by the fourth quarter of this year.

The brigade's Forward Command Element is currently stationed in Lithuania.

 

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Germany expects to start deploying brigade in Lithuania early next year – defense chief (updates)

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Germany's Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer expects the implementation of a plan for the deployment of a German brigade to Lithuania to start early next year.  

"We will have our roadmap by the end of this quarter. It's very clear and I am very convinced that we are going into the implementation phase by the beginning of 2024," Breuer told a news conference in Vilnius on Monday.  

"The roadmap we've set to ourselves is very ambitious. By the end of this year, the entire planning process is completed, so that we can enter into the implementation phase in 2024," the German chief of defense said.

"Our joint working group serves to closely coordinate between Lithuania and Germany. The topics to be discussed cover a wide range and they are, I must admit, complex. But I know we will be able to stick to our timeline," he said. 

The general noted that the "the basic decision" to station a permanently based brigade in Lithuania "was taken eight weeks ago". 

"There's no blueprint for doing this, so we really need to go into the depths, we really have to do it from scratch," he said.  

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters at the NATO summit in Vilnius last month that Berlin expected to have a plan for deploying the brigade in Lithuania ready by the fourth quarter of this year.

Germany has been leading NATO's multinational battalion deployed in Lithuania since 2017.

Berlin pledges to expand this unit to the size of a brigade once Lithuania has the necessary infrastructure in place and if this is in line with other NATO plans.

"One thing is for certain: the deployment will fit as flexibly as possible into NATO defense plans," Breuer said. "The brigade is a part of the NATO force model."

The brigade's Forward Command Element is currently stationed in Lithuania.

Breuer said that for Germany, whose security has long been guaranteed by the Allies, this commitment is important as a way of repaying the solidarity that NATO has shown in the past.

"For a long time, Germany used to be a frontline state in NATO's eastern border. Allied troops were stationed in my country to defend every inch of our Alliance territory in the event of Russian aggression," the chief of defense told the news conference.

"Now it's time to pay back, to return the solidarity and the feeling of safety we have been given by NATO partners and allies for decades," the general said. 

"Therefore, Germany will (...) deploy a combat brigade to Lithuania," he added. 

 

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Germany expects to start deploying brigade in Lithuania early next year – defense chief (expands)

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Germany's Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer expects the implementation of a plan for the deployment of a German brigade to Lithuania to start early next year.  

"We will have our roadmap by the end of this quarter. It's very clear and I am very convinced that we are going into the implementation phase by the beginning of 2024," Breuer told a news conference in Vilnius on Monday.  

"The roadmap we've set to ourselves is very ambitious. By the end of this year, the entire planning process is completed, so that we can enter into the implementation phase in 2024," the German chief of defense said.

"Our joint working group serves to closely coordinate between Lithuania and Germany. The topics to be discussed cover a wide range and they are, I must admit, complex. But I know we will be able to stick to our timeline," he said.

The general noted that the "the basic decision" to station a permanently based brigade in Lithuania "was taken eight weeks ago".

"There's no blueprint for doing this, so we really need to go into the depths, we really have to do it from scratch," he said.  

Lithuania's Chief of Defense General Valdemaras Rupsys told the news conference, "We need to prepare proper conditions" for the brigade's deployment.

"Me, the minister and the political leadership are interested to make it as fast as possible. I think the Bundeswehr and the political leadership in Berlin as well. But we need to make many calculations before we start," he said. 

For his part, Breuer noted that it is a cross-border process, which "adds to the complexity" of its implementation.

"I discovered this morning a lot of speed here in Lithuania and I have discovered the same speed in Germany on this issue, but I would like to remind you that there is no blueprint. I think that's something new and we need understanding, we have to develop the framework of what is necessary," he said. 

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters at the NATO summit in Vilnius last month that Berlin expected to have a plan for deploying the brigade in Lithuania ready by the fourth quarter of this year.

Berlin pledges to expand this unit to the size of a brigade once Lithuania has the necessary infrastructure in place and if this is in line with other NATO plans.

"One thing is for certain: the deployment will fit as flexibly as possible into NATO defense plans," Breuer said. "The brigade is a part of the NATO force model."

For his part, Rupsys said that an important task for Lithuania is to prepare suitable training and living conditions for the German troops.

Pistorius said earlier that a 4,000-strong German brigade would be permanently stationed in Lithuania. In this case, troops would normally come with their families, which would require additional infrastructure.

"I would not say that there is reluctance," Breuer told the news conference when asked about the information that some German troops are reluctant to relocate to Lithuania. 

"I would say that there is an increase of understanding," the German general said. 

The brigade's Forward Command Element is currently stationed in Lithuania.

"The presence of German troops in Lithuania is particularly important for deterring the enemy in the neighborhood and enabling the forward defense of Lithuania. Our military cooperation and friendship are exemplary in the NATO family," said Rupsys.

Breuer said that for Germany, whose security has long been guaranteed by the Allies, this commitment is important as a way of repaying the solidarity that NATO has shown in the past.

"For a long time, Germany used to be a frontline state in NATO's eastern border. Allied troops were stationed in my country to defend every inch of our Alliance territory in the event of Russian aggression," the chief of defense told the news conference.

"Now it's time to pay back, to return the solidarity and the feeling of safety we have been given by NATO partners and allies for decades," the general said.

"Therefore, Germany will (...) deploy a combat brigade to Lithuania," he added. 

 

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Minister asks president to strip Russian businessman Kudimov of Lithuanian citizenship (expands)

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite has formally asked President Gitanas Nauseda to strip Yuri Kudimov, a Russian businessman, of his Lithuanian citizenship granted to him by way of exception.

The move follows the recommendation from the Migration Department which has summarized the information provided by all the responsible authorities and concluded that Kudimov is engaged in activities that are incompatible with Lithuania's national security interests, the ministry said on Monday.

According to the State Security Department (SSD), Kudimov obtained Lithuanian citizenship in 1998 by concealing some personal information, including the fact that he was an intelligence officer of the KGB of the Soviet Union.  

Kudimov was allegedly involved in non-transparent schemes for Russian funding of electoral campaigns in Western countries, and he still maintains contacts with influential persons in Russia with links to Russian intelligence services, the ministry said.

The SSD considers Kudimov's long-standing contacts with persons linked to Russian intelligence services and high-ranking officials, as well as his activities in economic sectors of strategic importance to the Russian regime and his ties to Russian influence operations abroad, a threat to Lithuania's security interests

According to the intelligence agency, by holding a Lithuanian passport and being able to visit Lithuania and the Schengen area, Kudimov enables Russian institutions to carry out intelligence and influence operations against Lithuania's interests.

In the SSD's opinion, these circumstances pose a threat to Lithuania's security interests.

According to the Interior Ministry, Kudimov obtained Lithuanian citizenship in 1998 by concealing some facts of his biography, such as his work in the State Security Committee of the Soviet Union (KGB) and his contacts with Russian intelligence services.

Kudimov breaks his oath of loyalty to Lithuania through his actions, according to the ministry. 

Moreover, he discredits the name of Lithuania and poses a threat to its security interests by "cooperating closely with and acting in concert with a regime hostile to the state of Lithuania and with the intelligence services of the Russian Federation", it said.  

The ministry writes in its request to the president that when applying for Lithuanian citizenship, Kudimov told the authorities that he had been a Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent in England and the head of the Latin American bureau of the Novoe Vremia magazine, but he "concealed the fact that his position as a journalist was only a cover for his work for the KGB in the Soviet Union".

The ministry refers to information published in The Guardian that Kudimov was expelled from the United Kingdom, where he worked for the KGB under the cover of a journalist, back in 1985.  

The request for the revocation of citizenship also cites publicly available information that Kudimov tried to recruit Peter Kellner, the husband of Catherine Ashton, a former EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, while working in the UK between 1983 and 1985. 

According to The Insider, an international center for investigative journalism, Kudimov also worked for the Novoe Vremia magazine in Mexico under the cover of a journalist, very likely also on KGB assignments.

Kudimov's links to the KGB are also confirmed by information from public sources that he was a member of a group of disciples of the famous Soviet agent Kim Philby.

According to the Lithuanian authorities, Kudimov held senior positions in banks and other Russian financial institutions with links to former KGB employees and influential Russian figures.

The public broadcaster LRT has reported that when Kudimov arrived in Lithuania in 1997, he was looking to start a waste management business, but later abandoned his plans. 

On December 16 of the same year, he asked the then President Algirdas Brazauskas to grant him Lithuanian citizenship by way of exception and received it a little over a month later.

 

  

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Intermin: Lithuania plans to close two more border checkpoints with Belarus

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Lithuania plans to close two more checkpoints on its border with Belarus, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite has said.

“The Interior Ministry will propose closing two more checkpoints. These will be the Lavoriskes and Raigardas checkpoints,” she told reporters in Warsaw on Monday.

Bilotaite is on Monday meeting with her Baltic and Polish counterparts in Warsaw to discuss the security of the countries’ borders with Belarus.

"As regards the proposals, when they will be made, they are currently on the table. It should be considered, all procedures should be followed and, apparently, after consideration and decision-making, it [closure of two more checkpoints] should be done in the near future", the Lithuanian minister said.

According to Bilotaite, the decision to close two more checkpoints was taken in order to redirect capacities and reduce the scale of smuggling across the border.

"The first aspect of this is related to the need for officers. Today, in the current situation at our border, we need as many officers as possible at the green border ... And the second aspect is the problem of smuggling", she said.

Following Lithuania's closure of the Sumskas and Tverecius border crossings with Belarus earlier this month, Bilotaite said the Baltic countries and Poland were in talks over a "regional decision" on a complete closure of the border with the neighboring authoritarian country. 

Belarus says that it has registered a total of over 400,000 visits by Lithuanian nationals since Minsk put in place a visa-free regime for Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish citizens in the spring of 2022. 

Meanwhile, Lithuanian officials warn of attempts by Belarus' authorities to recruit some Lithuanian travelers by using blackmail and psychological pressure.

Security concerns in the region have recently been heightened by the arrival of the Wagner mercenary group in Belarus.

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Borders with Belarus could be closed after armed, migrant incidents – Lithuanian minister 

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Lithuania, Latvia and Poland could close their borders with Belarus if an armed incident occurred or irregular migrants stormed into their territories, Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said after meeting with her counterparts in Warsaw on Monday. 

"We agreed to respond in a united, decisive and coordinated manner. And we also agreed on specific criteria for when we would take steps and make a decision to close the border," Bilotaite told reporters after the talks on possible coordinated action by the countries.

"And there are two criteria. The first one is an armed incident or incidents at the border of one of the states," the minister said. "The incident would have to be such as to pose a serious threat to the national security of our countries." 

"The second criterion is an organized mass storming by irregular migrants of the border of one of the states," she said. 

The ministers agreed to promptly exchange information on such incidents and take decisions "at inter-governmental level", according to Bilotaite. 

They also agreed to continuously share information before such incidents occur, she said.

The Baltic states and Poland are in talks on a regional decision to shut down the borders with Belarus in response to possible threats due to Wagner mercenaries' presence in the neighboring country, the influx of irregular migrants, and concerns about Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish citizens' visits to Belarus, encouraged by Minsk's visa-free regime.

In Warsaw, the ministers also agreed on "certain exceptions" in the event of a complete closure of the borders with Belarus, according to Bilotaite.

"We agreed that certain exceptions should be put in place, primarily regarding the humanitarian corridor, and that this mechanism should be the same for all the countries," the minister said. 

"We agreed to elaborate it at a technical level (...), because we understand that those exceptions should be put in place as well," she added.  

Lithuania earlier this month closed two of its six border crossings with Belarus and Bilotaite said on Monday that the authorities were planning to close two more checkpoints.

The Belarusian opposition has called on the region's countries to keep open humanitarian corridors for people fleeing the Minsk regime's repression.

 

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Father who took child from mother, fled from Lithuania detained in Russia

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – A father was detained in Russia’s territory on Sunday after abducting a child from his mother in Lithuania.

Lithuanian border guards then had no information whether the father and the child, aged about one year, had been returned to Lithuania.

"The Russian border guards have only confirmed the fact that a man and a child have been detained. If persons are handed over, a meeting is organized in advance and it takes place through a border checkpoint, this is usually coordinated," Giedrius Misutis, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), told BNS on Monday morning.

According to the police, on Sunday, at 2.16 p.m., Klaipeda County Police Headquarters was alerted by a 27-year-old woman.

She said that on the same day, at around 10 a.m., a 37-year-old man had taken their one-year-old daughter from her in the village of Sausdravai, Kretinga District, and had not returned the child at the agreed time.

During the search, it was found that on the same day, at around 1.04 p.m., the man with his daughter crossed the Lithuanian-Russian border using a boat to cross the river Skirvyte in the town of Rusne, Silute District.

They were detained on Russian territory.

Misutis told BNS that border guards spotted a rubber boat crossing the border from the Lithuanian side and reaching the river bank belonging to Russia. The middle of the river Skirvyte marks the Lithuanian border with Russia.

The Lithuanian border guards then contacted their Russian colleagues who confirmed that a man with a child had been detained on their river bank.

“Police information about a possible child abduction came in almost at the same time and a car was found on the shore that could be linked to that person, and it was taken by the police," SBGS spokesman told BNS.

The police launched a probe into child abduction, while the border guards opened an investigation into illegal border crossing.

A father, mother or close relative who abducts his or her own child or the child of his or her relatives from a children's institution or from a person with whom the child was lawfully staying shall be liable to community service or a fine, or to restriction of liberty, or to arrest, or to imprisonment for up to two years.

Anyone who has illegally crossed the border of the State of Lithuania shall be liable to a fine or to arrest or to imprisonment for up to two years.

By Ingrida Steniulienė

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Nauseda hails Germany's commitment to Lithuania's security as 'success story'

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Germany's commitment to bolstering Lithuania's security is "a success story to share with our allies", President Gitanas Nauseda said after meeting with Germany's Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer in Vilnius on Monday.  

Nauseda and Breuer discussed the security situation in the region, military cooperation between Lithuania and Germany, and the beefing up of NATO's eastern flank. 

"We are delighted with Germany's long-term commitment to strengthening Lithuania’s security. I firmly believe that it is going to be a success story to share with our allies," the president said in a press release after the meeting.  

"Lithuania is ready to provide the best conditions for German soldiers to live and train in Lithuania," he added.

Germany announced in June that it was ready to permanently station a brigade in Lithuania if the latter puts in place the necessary infrastructure and if the deployment is in line with other NATO plans. 

Berlin expects to have a plan for stationing its troops in Lithuania ready this year and to start the actual redeployment early next year.

Nauseda said that "smooth cooperation between Lithuanian and German institutions is very important at this stage".

A German-led NATO multinational battalion has been stationed in Lithuania since 2017. The deployment of the brigade would increase the number of troops in the country by several times to around 4,000.

Nauseda and Breuer also discussed NATO's rotational air defense model approved at the Alliance's summit in Vilnius last month.

The president "underlined that air defense remains a key priority for Lithuania and the region", according to the press release. 

"Therefore, it is important to develop a practical plan for putting this idea into effect as soon as possible".

Nauseda also said at the meeting that "with the ongoing tense security situation in the region, it is extremely important that both Lithuania and Germany share the same view of threats and make respective defense decisions".  

 

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Father who took his child from Lithuania to Russia unlawfully may have dual citizenship

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Lithuania has failed to quickly recover a child taken to Russia because the girl’s father with restricted custody may have both Lithuanian and Russian citizenship, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of Lithuania's National Crisis Management Center, said on Monday.

He said that Lithuania has no information that the person who took the child away is a Russian citizen, but officials in that country claim so.

"The main message is that our original idea and plan – to get back our citizens, or at least the citizen [the girl], in a quick way, that is, through the border guards – has failed. This happened because potentially, and I want to emphasize – potentially, aggravating circumstances have emerged, i.e., according to the Russian side, the father of the minor is also a Russian citizen," Vitkauskas said on Monday after an inter-institutional meeting on the abduction of the child to Russia.

"This radically changes the situation and our possibilities, it complicates the process itself," he told reporters.

It was agreed at the meeting to announce a search for the man through Interpol, and to try to contact Russian officials on the basis of agreements earlier signed by the Ministry of Social Security and Labor with Russia.

"As we were informed by the Russian side, the girl is being cared for, she is receiving medical and social assistance and her condition is good," Vitkauskas said on Monday.

According to the police, on Sunday, at 2.16 p.m., Klaipeda County Police Headquarters was alerted by a 27-year-old woman.

She said that on the same day, at around 10 a.m., a 37-year-old man had taken their one-year-old daughter from her in the village of Sausdravai, Kretinga District, and had not returned the child at the agreed time.

During the search, it was found that on the same day, at around 1.04 p.m., the man with his daughter crossed the Lithuanian-Russian border using a boat to cross the river Skirvyte in the town of Rusne, Silute District.

They were detained on Russian territory.

Antanas Montvydas, deputy chief of the State Border Guard Service (SBGS), said that a boat without either oars or an electric engine was spotted in the river Skirvyte at 1.04 p.m. on Sunday. Two minutes later, at 1.06 p.m., border guards were on the spot already and stated that the boat had entered the territory of Russia and that the persons had gone ashore.

"Our guards tried to invite the person to return to the territory of Lithuania, but unfortunately, we never saw the person," Montvydas said at the press conference.

According to him, an abandoned car was found later.

According to Vitkauskas, the officials reacted in a timely and appropriate manner on Sunday.

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Lithuanians invited to donate school supplies for Ukraine as part of Caritas campaign 

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – People are invited to donate money and items, including school supplies, for Ukraine as part of a three-day campaign launched by Caritas in more than 30 Lithuanian cities and towns on Monday.

The organization has said its sixth fundraising campaign in Lithuania asks for donations not only of hygiene products for adults and children, household chemicals and non-perishable foodstuffs, but also of school supplies such as backpacks, pencil cases, notebooks, writing, drawing and coloring materials.

It also hopes to raise at least 100,000 euros to help Ukrainians rebuild or repair their war-damaged homes.

Figures from Ukraine's Education and Science Ministry show that about 180 Ukrainian schools have been completely destroyed and over 1,300 educational institutions have been damaged by the Russian military.

The Ukrainian government has allocated 1.5 billion hryvnias (around 36.7 million) euros to set up bomb shelters before the start of the new school year.

According to Caritas, 75 percent of Ukraine's schools already have bomb shelters in place, but this does not mean that the majority of students will be able to return to their classrooms.

The priority is to resume in-person classes where possible due to safety, but in regions near conflict zones, they will be held remotely.

Caritas expects that school supplies collected on Monday through Wednesday will not only be useful for learning, but will also help children to wait out air raid sirens in shelters. 

For the first time, the Lithuanian organization will use the money collected during its campaign to help rebuild homes destroyed in the attacks, especially those of the elderly and families.

According to Deimante Bukeikaite, head of Lithuanian Caritas, some people need bricks and cement, others need windows or doors, and still others need materials to "plug" the holes made by the missiles.

 

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Lithuanian president receives credentials from Estonian, Swedish, German ambassadors

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – New ambassadors from Estonia, Sweden and Germany have started their work in Lithuania after Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda received letters of credence from Estonian Ambassador Kaimo Kuusk, Swedish Ambassador Lars Wahlund and German Ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann on Monday.

The Lithuanian leader and the Estonian ambassador talked about working together to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank, implement strategic infrastructure projects, expand bilateral economic and trade contacts, as well as jointly fight against Russia’s propaganda and its efforts to rewrite history, the presidential office said in a press release.

Nauseda underscored the need to deliver the decisions made at the Vilnius NATO Summit and to seek an invitation for Ukraine to join NATO to be issued at its next summit in Washington.

According to the Lithuanian leader, it is necessary to ensure sustainable long-term support for Ukraine, to tighten sanctions against Russia and Belarus, and to make the aggressor Russia accountable for its war crimes.

During his meeting with the Swedish Ambassador, the president expressed Lithuania’s full support for Sweden’s membership in NATO.

Nauseda also emphasized that Sweden’s accession will strengthen security in the Baltic Sea region and invited Sweden to join the Vilnius-based NATO Energy Security Center.

The president highlighted Sweden’s successful presidency of the European Union, saying that its focus on European values, well-being and security, as well as strong support for Ukraine, served as a model example of responsibility and reassurance.

Nauseda also pointed out that Lithuania is ready to expand economic and trade ties and deepen cooperation in culture, science and education.

At the meeting with the German ambassador, the president underlined that Lithuania highly appreciates Germany’s strong commitment and leadership in our region, “especially in the areas of security and defense”, and that “Lithuania is doing all that needs to be done to host a German brigade as early as in 2026”.

According to Nauseda, Germany is a strategic partner of Lithuania in the European Union, NATO and other international organizations.

“Lithuania is ready to expand economic and trade relations as well as to strengthen collaboration in science and innovation,” the press release quoted him as saying.

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NATO jets in Baltics scrambled 5 times last week to escort Russian planes

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – NATO fighter jets were scrambled five times last week to identify and escort Russian planes violating flight rules in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, Lithuania's Defense Ministry said on Monday.

On Monday, August 21, NATO jets took off to intercept a TU-134 passenger plane flying from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia and two SU-27 fighter jets that were flying from Kaliningrad and returned back.

On Wednesday, August 23, NATO jets were sent to intercept an IL-18 passenger aircraft flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad.

On Thursday, August 24, NATO jets took off to intercept an IL-20 attack aircraft that was flying from Kaliningrad and returned back. On Friday, an aircraft of the same type flew from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia.

Also on Friday, August 25, NATO jets were scrambled to intercept a TU-134 flying from mainland Russia to Kaliningrad and two SU-27s that took off from Kaliningrad and returned back.

Some of those Russian planes were flying without flight plans, had their onboard transponders switched off and/or were not in radio communication with the regional air traffic control center.

The NATO Air Policing Mission is being carried out from Lithuania and Estonia.

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Kremlin fuelling passions with verdict for Lithuanian judges in 1991 crackdown case – FM

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – The Russian court's verdict against three judges involved in the January 1991 crackdown case is yet another attempt by the Kremlin regime to stir up passions, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has said.

"Russia has repeatedly used this case in its propaganda, misrepresenting the events of the case and falsifying historical facts. Therefore, the sentencing of the three judges in absentia is yet another incitement of passions by the Kremlin regime, which once again confirms that the trial and the judgment in the January 13 case, or, as I have mentioned, the Nuremberg case of Lithuania, were legitimate in our country," the Lithuanian top diplomat said in comments sent to BNS on Monday.

According to him, Lithuania has been actively raising the issue of the prosecution of the judges involved in the January 13 case and continues to do so in all possible international formats.

According to the Mediazona news portal, the Basmanny District Court in Moscow announced that on August 17 it sentenced in absentia the three judges of Vilnius Regional Court – Virginija Pakalnyte-Tamosiunaite, Arturas Sumskas and Ainora Kornelija Maceviciene – who delivered a judgment in the January 13 case. The court did not elaborate on the verdict itself or the reasons for it.

Russian investigators earlier accused the judges of delivering "a deliberately wrongful sentence”, which carries a penalty of imprisonment.

In March 2019, Vilnius Regional Court convicted more than 60 former Soviet officers and officials of war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role during the Soviet aggression in January 1991. The majority of them were sentenced in absentia.

Russia, in turn, opened criminal cases against the three Lithuanian judges involved in the trial in the spring of 2019.

Russia earlier said that it had also opened criminal cases against prosecutors involved in the January 13 case.

Fourteen civilians were killed and hundreds more were wounded when the Soviet troops stormed the TV Tower and the Radio and Television Committee building in Vilnius in the early hours of Jan. 13, 1991.

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Upcoming events in Lithuania for Tuesday, August 29, 2023

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – The following events are scheduled in Lithuania for Tuesday, August 29, 2023:

PRESIDENT Gitanas Nauseda to lay flowers at the memorial to the participants of the 1863-1864 uprising in Dubiciai Village, Varena District, at 10:15 a.m.; to meet with top officials of the State Border Guard Service and officers from the Varena Border Guard Unit at the Barauskas Checkpoint in Mantotai Village, Varena District, at 10:40 a.m.; to deliver remarks to the press at the Barauskas Checkpoint in Mantotai Village, Varena District, at 11:50 a.m.; to visit the Museum of Merkine Region and lay flowers at the monument to Lithuanian partisan leader Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas at 2:05 p.m.

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen to meet with Hans Brask, Denmark's ambassador to Lithuania, at 10 a.m.

PRIME MINISTER Ingrida Simonyte to give an interview to LRT Radio at 8:05 a.m.

DEFENSE MINISTER Arvydas Anusauskas to attend an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Spain.

FOREIGN MINISTER Gabrielius Landsbergis to pay a working visit to Romania and to meet with his Romanian counterpart.

INTERIOR MINISTER Agne Bilotaite to meet with Tamir Waser, chargé d’affaires ad interim of the United States, at 4 p.m.

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Lithuanian banking body: banks will pay solidarity levy on time

 

VILNIUS, Aug 28, BNS – Banks are forced to modify their information systems following an unexpected change in the interpretation of the calculation of the bank solidarity levy by the State Tax Inspectorate last week, but they vow to pay the levy on time – before August 31, president of the Lithuanian Banking Association has said.

According to Eivile Cipkute, this was agreed at a meeting between the Tax Inspectorate and the association's members on Monday.

"We agreed that the Tax Inspectorate will give some time to rework the information systems. We understand that there is already too little time to make changes before payment," she told BNS after the meeting.

According to her, the banks had already prepared their systems, but are now forced to modify them because of the new interpretation.

"Credit institutions had already prepared their information systems and reflected the tax in their financial statements in accordance with the previous interpretation, and this information was provided to stock exchange investors both in Lithuania and abroad. These amendments change things fundamentally, and all this will have to be reviewed and redone once again with only a few days left ", Cipkute said.

The association reported last Friday that the new regime does not include leasing, factoring or bonds in the definition of new lending, even though the new law was interpreted to the contrary by the Tax Inspectorate several months ago. Other previous interpretations have also been revoked, which has fundamentally changed the logic of the tax calculation.

Cipkute told BNS back in July that the main questions are about the application of the tax to new loans as it is not clear what constitutes new lending, for instance, do loan additions or extensions qualify as that.

According to the law, the solidarity contribution is not calculated for loan agreements signed from the beginning of this year.

The tax is levied on the banks' net interest income that exceeds the average of four regular financial years by more than 50 percent.

The temporary levy was introduced as banks in Lithuania are this year forecast to post over a billion euros in combined profits, which is seen as a windfall due to the European Central Bank's interest rate hikes.

The levy is expected to raise a total of around 400 million euros by the end of 2024, with the money to be used for defense, and military and civil transport infrastructure projects. 

By Valdas Pryšmantas

Editor: Roma Pakėnienė

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