The latest annual report from the State Security Department (VSD), which contains a number of proposals to limit free speech, shows that siege mentality and remnants of Soviet thinking are still widespread in Lithuania.
Institute of International Relations and Political Science
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Lithuania security analysts say that views of Russia in the West have been transformed over recent months by international events – from one of an aggressor undermining European security to a partner in Europe's struggle against terrorism.
Lithuania is currently undergoing a “medium-sized” political crisis, according to Lithuanian political scientists and analysts, but one that should not threaten the current Government's and ruling coalition's composition.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius claims that the teachers' trade unions on strike in Lithuania could have been influenced or inspired by Russia has attracted considerable attention. When describing how some members of the teachers' trade unions attended certain conferences in Russia, the prime mi...
Major change in Lithuania is difficult and slow because of the short political lives of the average Lithuanian government, according to Darius Žeruolis, a political scientist at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University.
The idea of a possible EU common army was supported by 68% of Lithuanians in a recent Eurobarometer survey, but analysts question the wisdom of such a move.
Lithuania has been vocally protesting against Belarus' plans to build a new nuclear power plant in Astravyets, some 50km from Vilnius, with opposition parties recently publishing a strongly worded declaration urging the Lithuanian government to do everything to stop the project immediately.
During the last two terms of the Seimas, there have been two political firsts in Lithuania: between 2008-2012, Andrius Kubilius was the first prime minister to remain in his post for his entire term since Lithuania's independence was regained. Now, the social democrats, who have been behind the gove...
Radical parties on the left and the right of the political spectrum are rising in popularity across the EU with some in an increasingly strong position to take power in European countries from France and the Netherlands to Sweden, but the same trend is not apparent in Lithuania.
With the Court of Appeals' decision to overturn prison sentences for the Labour Party's fraudulent bookkeeping, talk has returned to the possibility of the party making a real comeback. The court's decision was favourable for the Labour Party, but I doubt they can seriously aim for a victory in the ...
The Liberal Movement are securely the second-most popular party in Lithuania after the Social Democrats, according to opinion polls, but despite their good ratings there are reasons for unease for the party in the run up to this year’s elections.
The refugee crisis has uncovered a major flaw in the European Union's (EU) policy of free movement of people: porous external borders. Lithuanian commentators say some countries are just not interested in solving the problem.
Political scientists say that Saulius Skvernelis, Lithuania's Interior Minister delegated by the party Order and Justice, overreacted when announcing his resignation. Political scientists say that although President Dalia Grybauskaite criticised the minister, she did not send a clear message that he...
Lithuanian political scientists, journalists and politicians comment on the coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris which left at least 129 people dead.
The recent presidential election in Belarus secured presidency for Alexander Lukashenko for the fifth term. Prior to the vote, the Belarusian regime released political prisoners, which the European Union took as a gesture of good will and is talking about suspending sanctions against Lukashenko and ...
The world is back in the Cold War situation, when governments' official line stresses the need to talk, while in fact they are engaging in proxy war, according to Laurynas Jonvičius, political scientist at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University.
Kęstutis Girnius, associate professor at Vilnius University's Institute of International Relations and Political Science, says Russia's intervention in Syria means that Moscow does not have any plans to attack Lithuania or other Baltic states.
Discussions about the refugee crisis and how to solve it has moved from the European Union to the United Nations General Assembly, where most national leaders spoke about settling the conflicts in Syria and Iraq and fighting international terrorism. Among the highlights were the speeches and meeting...
Vladimir Putin is back in the international arena. That is the significance of the Russian president's speech at the United Nations General Assembly, says Lithuanian political scientist Gražvydas Jasutis.
The current rush of refugees is arguably the greatest challenge for the European Union throughout its history. One should hope that the crisis can be solved without endangering the overall European project.
