Contents tagged with Lithuania

  • Lithuania is considering purchasing combat helicopters

    The purchase of combat helicopters for the armed forces is being discussed in Lithuania, as was stated by Lithuanian Defense Minister, Raimundas Karoblis, 15min.lt reports.

    "The discussions are ongoing. We have to admit that, as with the Land Forces, we have some gaps in the Special Operation Forces as well," Karoblis said.

    At present, Lithuania has no combat helicopters. The Lithuanian Army has only five helicopters available: three AS365 helicopters and two Mi-8T’s. All of the Dauphin …

  • Joint Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade to take part in Common Challenge 16 military exercises

    The Command of the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade and staff officers assigned to these battalions arrived at the Demba combined range of the Polish Armed Forces to participate in the certified command-staff drills - Common Challenge – 16, which began on the 11th of December and will last five days, according to the Government website.

    Eighteen Ukrainian officers from the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade under the leadership of the Deputy Commander of the Brigade, Colonel Vladimir …

  • Lithuania prohibits entry of Russian judges into the country

    Kęstutis Vaškelevičius, the Press Secretary of Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said during an interview with Deutsche Welle on December 6 that Lithuania decided to prohibit entry into the country of all judges from the Russian Federation’s Constitutional Court. The reason for this decision was their formalization of a number of decisions on Russia’s annexation of the Crimea, Deutsche Welle reported.

    According to Vaškelevičius, Russian judges were informed of this decision in November …

  • Lithuanian President: one has to be 'ready for anything' with Russia

    Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy is unpredictable and, therefore, everyone needs to be "ready for anything.” She made the statement on CNN in response to a question regarding her idea of Putin's current plans in foreign policy concerning the Baltic countries.

    "We can only guess what the plans of Putin are. I also have guesses, but it will probably be incorrect to share them publicly. As for Lithuania, I can only say that we …

  • Iron Sword 2016 international exercises begin in Lithuania

    As reported by the Lithuanian Defense Ministry, about 4,000 servicemen from 11 NATO-member countries will gather for the third annual Iron Sword military exercises. The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense reports that during the exercises servicemen will plan and carry out defensive and offensive operations and perform other tasks.

    It is reported that the exercises will be carried out between November 20 and December 2 at two Lithuanian landfills.

    Servicemen from Estonia, United States, Great …

  • Linkevicius: Putin may test NATO before the start of Trump’s presidency

    Lithuania has not ruled out the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin may test NATO for several weeks before Donald Trump officially becomes the president of the United States.

    This was stated by the minister of foreign affairs of Lithuania, Linas Linkevičius, in an interview with BBC.

    Linkevičius said that there is a danger that Putin considers the period between now and the start of Trump’s presidency in January as an opportunity to test the combat readiness and diplomatic …

  • Russian TV channel taken off the air in Lithuania

    The Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission (RTCL) decided on Wednesday, November 17th, to stop the rebroadcast of the Russian TV channel RTR Planeta for three months in response to the incitement to war, strife and ethnic hatred. This sanction was applied by RTCL after violations were recorded for the third time this year, Delfi reports. This decision will become effective as of Monday, November 21st, and will be enforced until the 21st of February.

    The last violation was recorded by the …

  • Lithuania adopted resolution for EU to extend sanctions against Russia

    Delfi has reported that the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania has adopted a resolution which calls on the EU to extend sanctions against the Russian Federation until the Minsk Agreements have been fully implemented.

    A total of 105 members of Parliament voted in favor of the resolution, none voted against it and one member abstained.

    According to the Lithuanian Parliament, any attempt to ease or lift sanctions against the Russian Federation would encourage the aggressive policy of the …

  • United States demands explanation from Lithuania concerning sale of donated weapons

    The United States is demanding an explanation from Lithuania regarding how the M14 sniper semi-automatic rifles, donated to the Lithuanian Army and highly valued by collectors around the world, appeared in private hands, Delfi reported.

    “The US Embassy believes that the aid, transferred by the US government, was illegally handed to third parties, disregarding the signed agreement on prohibition of re-sale of the arms donated by the Americans,” the news portal notes.

    It was noted that the M14 …

  • Lithuanian army to receive new AXMC sniper rifles

    The Lithuanian army has received new AXMC sniper rifles, which have twice the range of the weapons that are currently in the army’s arsenal, Delfi reported, with reference to the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense.

    The sniper rifles purchased for EUR 1.3 million from the UK manufacturer Accuracy International will be distributed among battalions and training facilities by the end of 2016. The distinctive feature of the AXMC sniper rifle is that it can use bullets of two calibers – 338 …