Former finance minister Ingrida Šimonytė and economist Gitanas Nausėda have advanced to the second round of Lithuania’s presidential election. Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis placed third and has announced he will step down in July.
The remaining candidates are both center-right, so the outcome of the runoff on May 26 should not affect Lithuania’s politics in a major way. Even so, the result is largely a happy one. Read more “Lithuania’s Presidential Election Is Boring — And That’s Fine”
Central European governments responded angrily on Wednesday to British prime minister David Cameron’s proposal to restrict their nationals’ access to welfare benefits in the West.
“If Cameron wants to divide people according to their nationality then that is against the free movement of labor and the treaty,” Witold Waszczykowski, the new Polish foreign minister, told The Daily Telegraph.
His Lithuanian counterpart, Linas Linkevičius, similarly cautioned against “discrimination or restrictions.” In Prague, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said, “Any interference in free movement poses a serious problem for the Czech Republic.” Read more “Czechs, Poles Huff and Puff as British Propose Benefits Reform”
Lawmakers from both of Germany’s ruling parties have criticized a Defense Ministry decision not to supply NATO ally Lithuania with armored fighting vehicles.
“We have a great interest in increasing the capability of our NATO partners in the Baltic,” the Social Democrats’ Rainer Arnold told Die Welt newspaper. Read more “Germany Denies Lithuania Arms, Lawmakers Critical”
In response to Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea, Lithuania and Poland agreed on Thursday to revive a joint military brigade with the country and deepen defense cooperation.
The three former Soviet satellite states agreed as early as 2007 to erect a multinational unit but efforts stalled in recent years. Russia’s invasion and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which headquarters its Black Sea Fleet and has a majority ethnic Russian population, prompted the countries into action. Read more “Lithuania, Poland to Revive Military Brigade with Ukraine”
