Contents tagged with Lithuania

  • Lithuanian Parliament votes to send more military instructors to Ukraine

    The Lithuanian Seimas passed a law that provides for sending twice as many military instructors to Ukraine for training purposes, according to baltnews.lt.

    The vote took place on Tuesday. Of 114 Lithuanian parliamentarians, 103 voted for the bill. There were none who voted against it or abstained from voting.

    Up to 30 instructors from the Lithuanian army could be sent before this law was passed. But now up to 60 servicemen or civil servants of the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania can be …

  • President of Lithuania: Sanctions against Russia should be strengthened and expanded

    The West should expand sanctions against Russia, as the situation in eastern Ukraine does not improve, as stated by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite before the EU summit in Brussels, Delfi reports.

    "The situation in Ukraine thus far only continues to deteriorate… In eastern Ukraine, a direct, real, de-facto inclusion of that part of the country into the territory of Russia has begun," said Lithuanian President Grybauskaite.

    She also pointed out to the fact that Moscow, with separatist …

  • Large scale NATO exercises begin in Lithuania

    On June 12, the largest multinational military exercises this year, Iron Wolf 2017 will begin in Lithuania.

    According to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry, the maneuvers will involve roughly 5,300 military personnel from Lithuania and nine NATO states: Belgium, Great Britain, the US, Poland, Luxembourg, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal.

    The Iron Wolf 2017 exercises will take place in southern, central and eastern parts of Lithuania between the 12th and the 24th of June. In the …

  • Lithuanian president promises to help Ukraine block the NordStream-2 pipeline

    Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, in the light of Brussels' preparations for negotiations with Moscow, has promised to help Ukraine block the initiatives to expand the NordStream gas pipeline, reports BNS.

    Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states have declared that the NordStream 2 project will strengthen the EU's dependence on Gazprom gas. The pipeline will also reduce the importance of Ukraine as a transit country, which would strike a blow to the Ukrainian economy.

    Grybauskaite …

  • President of Lithuania calls Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravyets 'a geopolitical weapon'

    The world clearly understands that the main threats to transatlantic security in the region are the militarization of the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation, the large-scale exercises "Zapad-2017" planned for autumn, and the Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravyets that has turned into a geopolitical weapon, as stated by the  President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite during her annual report to the Seimas, Delfi news agency reports.

    "The world that defends democracy today fully …

  • Lithuania declares nuclear power plant in Belarus a threat to national security

    The Cabinet of Ministers of Lithuania has declared that the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelAES), which is being built about 50 kilometers from Vilnius (on Belarus Island), poses a threat to national security. The portal Delfi reported this.

    The government proposes that the Seimas recognize BelAES as unsafe, representing, by virtue of its geographical position, a threat to the national security of Lithuania, the environment and human health.

    "The interests of national security and the …

  • Defense of the Suwalki Gap will be practiced during NATO’s Iron Wolf 2017 military exercise in Lithuania

    The NATO troops deployed in Lithuania and Poland next week will conduct training on the defense of the so-called Suwalki Gap, through which allied forces might arrive in the event of a military crisis in the Baltic countries, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

    About 1,500 Lithuanian, Polish, British and American servicemen will take part in the maneuvers that will be held on June 17 to 19 and will involve heavy military equipment and helicopters. This operation is part of the international exercise …

  • President of Lithuania: The main threat to the Baltic countries is 'the existence of Russia and Belarus in the east'

    Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite called the existence of Russia and Belarus in the east a major threat to the Baltic States and Poland. She made this announcement to the local press on June 5 before setting off on a state visit to Estonia.

    The head of the Lithuanian state reminded journalists that the Baltic countries and Poland are the "eastern border area of NATO" and that having Russia and Belarus in the same neighborhood is a threat. The militarization of Kaliningrad region plus …

  • Lithuania starts building a fence on border with Russia

    On Monday, Lithuania started the construction of a protective fence, nearly 45 kilometers in length, on the border with the Kaliningrad region of Russia. The ceremony of laying the first pillar of the border structure took place in the village of Ramoniskiai, in the Sakiai district.

    The cost of work will be 1,335 million euros. Money will be allocated from the budget of Lithuania, reports Delfi news website.

    A metal segment fence with supplemental equipment, approximately two meters in height, …

  • NATO Air Force escorted Russian military aircraft six times over the past week

    Last week, fighters performing the mission of NATO are Baltic Air Patrol, six times took off into the sky to escort Russian military aircraft that flew in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea, as reported by Delfi news agency citing the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, reported this.

    The NATO planes escorted Russian fighters, a transport plane and one reconnaissance aircraft. Most of the Russian planes flew with transponders turned off.

    Despite the fact that, after the annexation of …