The United States’ total military assistance to Lithuania will increase to $141 million in 2022 after the US Congress approved an additional funding package, the American Embassy in Vilnius said on October 4. The funding is part of a $2.2-billion aid package to help Ukraine and 17 other countries that have made significant contributions to…
An X-ray control system for trains crossing from Belarus into Lithuania has been put into trial operation at the Kena border checkpoint, the Customs Department said on October 4, adding that the project cost 5.6 million euros. The system operates in automatic mode and can scan trains traveling at speeds of up to 60 kilometres…
The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (VSAT) is taking over 500 G-36 automatic rifles from the country’s armed forces. Border guards are to receive almost 1,700 more of these weapons from the military in 2022, the VSAT said in a press release on October 4. The G-36 rifles will replace border guards’ weapons that do…
In retaliation for Western sanctions, Russia has closed its borders to trucks registered in EU countries. Lithuanian hauliers said the Russian market accounted for a diminishing share of their business, although markets further east might be lost for ever. When the EU adopted new sanctions in spring banning Russia and Belarus from transporting goods throughout…
100,200 doses of an Omicron-adapted coronavirus vaccine have reached Lithuania, the Health Ministry said on October 3. Adapted to the Omicron subtypes BA.4 and BA.5, the vaccine will be used as the first or second booster shots. Vaccine makers plan to deliver more than half a million doses of the adapted vaccines in October, the…
The Lithuanian Defence Ministry seeks that almost $3 million contributed by the country to a NATO trust fund aimed at supporting Afghanistan’s security forces be transferred to Ukraine. The Cabinet is expected to adopt the respective protocol decision this week. According to the ministry, $2.876 million (2.94 million euros) contributed by Lithuania to the NATO-run…
Lithuania has been living with double-digit inflation for almost a year. Food prices have gone up particularly sharply, by around a third. Economists say consumer sentiment is pandemic-like, which means austerity will drag on, especially as more income will be consumed by heating bills. Food producers and processors are frank – prices will have to…