TOPIC

Lithuania

Ukrainian rescuers try to extinguish a fire following a missile attack in the city of Lviv last week. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and the two countries have been at war ever since. Photo: AFP

US, EU raise alarm over China’s ‘very substantial’ help to Russia in Ukraine war

Beijing’s ‘significant’ exports said to be used on battlefield and given in exchange for Kremlin’s sensitive military technologies.

12 Sep 2024 - 11:00PMvideocam

China’s economic coercion evokes scrutiny, resentment: US officials

7 Sep 2024 - 5:30AMvideocam

EU firms resist plan to screen private investment into China

29 Jul 2024 - 4:44PMvideocam

Lithuanian president re-elected in vote marked by Russia fears

Gitanas Nauseda elected to a second, five-year term as rival Ingrida Simonyte concedes defeat. Russia’s war in Ukraine dominated the presidential campaign in the Nato member nation of 2.8 million.

27 May 2024 - 11:58AMvideocam

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda celebrates victory. Photo: AP

Russia sentences Pussy Riot activist to 6 years in absentia for Ukraine war fakes

Lyusya Shtein found guilty of spreading ‘war fakes’ over 2022 post on X that accused Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine of bombing foreign cities, Russian media reported.

28 Mar 2024 - 5:27AM

EU suspends WTO dispute with China over alleged economic coercion of Lithuania

Note circulated to intergovernmental body’s members on Friday said bloc wanted to “immediately suspend its proceedings” with Beijing.

27 Jan 2024 - 6:59AMvideocam

EU firms are reluctant to speak up on China as Brussels tries to de-risk

Fear of threats, raids and other retaliatory measures hamper efforts to find evidence to support Ursula von der Leyen’s economic security strategy.

13 Dec 2023 - 4:51PMvideocam

The European Commission is seen by some industry sectors to have acted too hastily with an investigation into subsidies in China’s electric vehicle sector. Photo: EPA-EFE

Opinion | China and the EU have moved towards a deeper mutual understanding

The recent EU-China summit in Beijing is part of efforts to keep the bilateral relationship from degrading further into conflict and discord. Brussels must adjust its approach to China and focus on addressing actual harms rather than perceived ones that damage its image and legal standing.

12 Dec 2023 - 8:48AMvideocam

EU-China summit: thorny issues to dominate as tense ties reflect ‘sober realism’

Deeply against Beijing’s stances on Ukraine, trade and human rights, Brussels to seek ‘more on the political front’ before agreeing deals, source says.

7 Dec 2023 - 12:00AMvideocam

China has eased ‘economic pressure’ on Lithuania, says Baltic FM

Diplomat’s revelation suggests halting of feud with Beijing over Vilnius permitting opening of controversially named Taiwanese office in its capital.

29 Nov 2023 - 2:29AM

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis talks to journalists as he arrives at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday. Photo: AP

US ‘happy to help’ countries fearing China’s economic coercion

Biden administration signals it is ‘more than happy’ to share what it knows about ‘Beijing’s playbook’ with partners if and when they are threatened.

7 Nov 2023 - 6:26AMvideocam

China dominates global production of gallium and germanium, chemical elements used in semiconductors. Photo: Reuters

Tokyo’s claims around ‘Japanese Schindler’ who saved Jews in WWII questioned

Lithuania-based diplomat Chiune Sugihara is seen as a Japanese hero for saving thousands of Jews during WWII but academics said Tokyo has exaggerated his role.

19 Aug 2023 - 4:00PM

Italy to face double punishment as it ends belt and road journey with China

For China, losing the belt and road’s richest Western member and a key node on the original Silk Road will be a symbolic blow.

5 Aug 2023 - 11:00PMvideocam

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China decries Nato’s ‘eastward march’ as Indo-Pacific leaders gather at summit

Tokyo and Nato agree to partner on security and cyber defence, while Japanese officials say they still have hopes for vetoed liaison office as leaders from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea attend second day of annual meeting.

13 Jul 2023 - 6:00AMvideocam

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Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Nato summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Wednesday. Photo: Nato/dpa

Nato slams China for Russia ties and Taiwan threats in sternest rebuke to date

Joint statement by alliance’s 31 members accuses Beijing of opaquely building up its military power and undercutting rules-based international order.

12 Jul 2023 - 10:05PMvideocam

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Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks at a press conference during a Nato meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

South Korea’s Yoon greeted with ‘American Pie’ rendition in Vilnius

Republican Senator Pete Ricketts came up to Yoon and his wife in the old town of Vilnius and shared his appreciation of Yoon’s speech to the US Congress on a state visit in April.

11 Jul 2023 - 5:46PMvideocam

Opinion | West’s fight against China’s ‘economic coercion’ is misguided and misleading

China has been a victim of Western sanctions for decades. The G7’s plan to take trade disputes into its own hands only weakens the WTO and suggests selfish geopolitical aims.

2 Jun 2023 - 2:20AMvideocam

Opinion | How seriously does the world really take China?

From Canada to Italy, Switzerland to Lithuania, countries are standing up to China or de-risking, some making moves they would never try with the US. If the world does not take China seriously, the risk is that Beijing could act radically.

1 Jun 2023 - 8:15AMvideocam

Lithuanian FM calls to repel China’s economic coercion with global response

Recalling his small nation’s diplomatic spat with China over a Taiwan office, Gabrielius Landsbergis says Beijing pressure tactics are likely to carry on.

13 May 2023 - 2:17AMvideocam

Lithuania says China peace plan will result in loss of Ukraine sovereignty

Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis rejected Beijing’s mediation bid, saying ‘you cannot have full sovereignty of a country, and loss of territory’.

6 Apr 2023 - 2:03PMvideocam

China likely on Nato agenda over ‘limitless’ Russia tie-up: Lithuania

Baltic country’s Asia-Pacific allies may again attend transatlantic security alliance’s annual meeting, slated this year for Vilnius.

8 Mar 2023 - 7:35AM

Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign minister, speaks at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Tuesday. Image: CSIS

Amid cooling ties with Beijing, EU delegations land in Taiwan

Germany and Lithuania send parliamentary groups to the island to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and senior officials.

9 Jan 2023 - 9:13PMvideocam

The German delegation from the Free Democratic Party met Taiwan’s legislature speaker Yu Shyi-kun. The group was headed by the chair of the Bundestag defence committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, and the party’s deputy chair, Johannes Vogel. Photo: CNA

China blocks EU bid to form WTO panels on Lithuania and hi-tech patents

The two cases centre on claims that Lithuanian firms are being punished for the country’s ties with Taiwan and intellectual property protections.

20 Dec 2022 - 9:30PMvideocam

China fills year-old EU envoy void by naming new ambassador

Fu Cong replaces Zhang Ming who left Brussels last year to head the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

11 Dec 2022 - 8:00PMvideocam

Taiwan’s ‘tech diplomacy’ on display in Baltic visit amid China tensions

A six-person delegation from Taiwan is visiting Latvia and Lithuania this week as part of the island’s effort to expand its international influence in terms of technology.

3 Nov 2022 - 4:07PMvideocam

Taiwan is using tech diplomacy to expand its international influence. Photo: Shutterstock

Lithuania’s office in Taipei begins operations, Taiwan confirms

The island’s foreign ministry says the Lithuanian envoy has arrived and started work, which is likely to further strain ties between Beijing and the Baltic state.

13 Sep 2022 - 8:49PMvideocam

Paulius Lukauskas was appointed Lithuania’s first representative to Taiwan in August. Photo: AFP

Lithuanian trade delegation in Taiwan ahead of representative office opening

Visit shows ‘spirit of mutual support and solidarity … as loyal partners on the front line of democracy’, Taiwanese foreign ministry says.

12 Sep 2022 - 7:21PMvideocam

Russia deploys hypersonic missiles to Kaliningrad in show of force

The region borders Poland and Lithuania, and Moscow’s move appears intended to showcase its military’s capability to threaten Nato assets.

19 Aug 2022 - 8:41AM

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Lithuania

Lithuania is located in the Baltic region of Europe between Latvia and Poland, and also borders Belarus and Russia. In 1990 it became the first Soviet-occupied state to announce the restitution of independence and in 1991 its citizens fended off an attempt by the Soviet Union to forment a coup. In 2001 the country joined the WTO and in 2004 it gained membership of both Nato and the European Union, adopting the Schengen Agreement in 2007 and the euro currency in 2015. In 2021 the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was opened in the country's captial of Vilnius, acting as a de facto embassy for the island, and causing an uproar in Beijing.

Capital

Vilnius

Head of State

President Gitanas Nausėda

Head of Government

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė

last updated:

25 September, 2024