Lithuania News

February 16. KAZINFORM. /Sara Mustafina/ 'A day of the statehood rebirth is the most important national holiday of Lithuania, its Independence Day. via Kazinform

“I hope it will be the first practical step in the cyber security issue”

NATO plans to establish a cyber security center in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas said Friday. via People's Daily Online

“Ukraine is a big and important country and NATO needs Ukraine”

VILNIUS, Lithuania : Ukraine's defense minister on Thursday reaffirmed his country's ambition to embark on the long road to NATO membership despite the domestic political upheaval the policy has sparked and ... via International Herald Tribune

“One of the latest instances of improvement is that Russia took part in mine-sweeping exercises in the Baltic Sea for the fist time in the past four years”

Lithuanian Defense Minister Juozas Olekas hopes for a positive shift in cooperation with the Russian Defense Department Ministry. via Interfax

If a country interested in the peaceful atom should ever want to know how not to go about organizing the development of civilian nuclear power, it should look to Lithuania. via The Baltic Times

WARSAW, Poland, Feb. 7 An agreement to link the power grids of Poland and Lithuania is expected to be signed in Warsaw Feb. via Earth Times

“We have support from your government. But it is up to your businessmen to use this alternative route; they will make their calculations and choice. We are doing everything to make this route competitive”

The original idea behind the Viking route is to connect Ukraine's Illichivsk and Lithuania's Klaipeda seaports but it can easily be stretched to Turkey, says Lithuania's ambassador FULYA OZERKAN A joint ... via Turkish Daily News

Germany's allies are increasingly impatient with its refusal to take a more active combat role in war-torn Afghanistan. via Der Spiegel

“All the necessary actions which were required have been taken by the Afghan government”

By: Murray Brewster, THE CANADIAN PRESS VILNIUS, Lithuania - Canada was assured by a senior member of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government on Friday that the handover of Taliban prisoners in Kandahar can ... via CFRB

“And what did we get? New American bases in Bulgaria and Romania.”

Vladimir Putin has used one of the last major speeches of his presidency to deliver a defiant message to the West, accusing it of unleashing a new arms race that left Moscow no choice but to retaliate in kind. via The Belfast Telegraph

“It was a request by one member of the alliance to another: It was not a demand.”

By ANDREW PURVIS/BERLIN, Time Magazine The tone of the recent letter from the U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to the German government urging Germany to pony up more troops for the NATO campaign in ... via Afghan News Network Services

“This will be an agreement on a company that should work out an investment project”

Lithuania, Poland in energy talks Lithuania and Poland plan to sign an agreement next week to set up a joint venture that will link the power grids of the two countries, Lithuanian Minister of Economy Vytas ... via Earth Times

“If you look at the Afghanistan of 2001 and the Afghanistan of now there is a remarkable difference for the better”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday she has seen progress in Afghanistan during the past few years, despite a determined Taliban insurgency that has disrupted security and prompted concerns that the NATO-led military campaign is faltering.

And Defense Secretary Robert Gates, seeking more military contributions from NATO members, said he's disappointed that some countries haven't sent combat troops to Afghanistan. But he also said he doesn't think the alliance is at a point of risking failure in the country. Read more

Foreign ministers from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries will start two days of informal meetings in Lithuania`s capital, Vilnius, on Hursday, according to RIA Novosti. via UNIAN

“Restrictions placed on what a given nation's forces can do and where they can go put this alliance at a sizable disadvantage”

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Feb 5, 2008 18:15:27 EST Convincing balky NATO members to send more fighting troops to back up the U.S. and its allies doing the fighting in still-shaky ... via MilitaryCity.com

“The meetings in Vilnius will provide me with the opportunity to reiterate Australia's concerns regarding the requirement for a broader, more integrated approach to reconstruction, rehabilitation and economic development in southern Afghanistan”

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon is heading to Lithuania today to discuss the future of Afghanistan with NATO countries. via Australian Broadcasting Corporation

“I think all of the countries in NATO have been frustrated by the lack of troops”

- International angst over Canada's Afghan ultimatum awaits Defence Minister Peter MacKay as he meets this week in Lithuania with reluctant NATO allies for the first time since the Manley commission report.

The informal meeting of defence ministers in the former Soviet republic comes after the military alliance's secretary general urged members to take their bickering over Afghanistan behind closed doors.

The disagreement over which country should reinforce the Canadian army in Kandahar is becoming loud and testy, with the U.S. and Germany openly squabbling last week. Read more