Free Republic

In an unprecedented move, 22 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, and Australia, issued a joint statement condemning the Islamic Republic of Iran for what they called “hostile actions and extraterritorial operations against individuals on the soil of other countries,” and demanded the immediate cessation of such actions. In the statement, published on Thursday, June 11, the Islamic Republic’s security services were accused of using local and international criminal networks to carry out assassination plots, kidnappings, intimidation, and harassment against dissidents, journalists, and citizens in Europe, North America, and Oceania. The signatories emphasized that attempts...

Russia's war on Ukraine is devouring its finances. War spending now totals 16.8 trillion roubles ($238 billion) — nearly 40% of the entire 2026 budget — and Putin's own finance minister, Anton Siluanov, has privately warned of a possible economic collapse, urging deep cuts to avert it. -The deficit is the largest since the 2022 invasion, growth has flatlined at 0.4%, and analysts say Moscow is faking its books. According to a 30 May report in the Financial Times, Russian government spending on the war in Ukraine is on track to exceed budget allocations by about 2 trillion Russian roubles...

As he sat in his restaurant in the Lithuanian capital, Liutauras Ceprackas, a chef, said he was one of the many Lithuanians who worry about a Russian invasion. He is not sure, he said, that his country’s 15,000-soldier army is big enough to stop one. Increasingly, he is not certain an American-led NATO would, either. That is why, three generations after Nazi Germany brutally occupied his country in World War II, Mr. Ceprackas, 51, is glad that Berlin has permanently stationed thousands of German soldiers in Lithuania. “This brigade is so strong and so well equipped that it’s like we...

Russia is stuck on the Ukrainian battlefield and lashing out with massive strikes on Kyiv. The growing fear in European capitals is that President Vladimir Putin will try next to reshuffle the cards by expanding the conflict to Europe. In recent weeks, Russia has made increasingly bellicose statements against the Baltic states. It has threatened to bomb “decision-making centers” in Latvia after accusing the country of hosting Ukrainian drone operators, an allegation denied by the Latvian authorities. Air-raid alarms were sounded in Lithuania last week, forcing the government into a bunker, after suspected Russian drones approached its airspace from Belarus....

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Russia was seeking to draw Belarus deeper into its war in Ukraine and was weighing plans to attack Ukraine's north or a NATO country from Belarusian territory. "We continue to document Russia's attempts to draw Belarus deeper into the war against Ukraine," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app after meeting military and intelligence officials. He said Ukraine knew of additional contacts between Russia and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to persuade him to join "new Russian aggressive operations". "Russia is considering plans for operations to the south and north of Belarusian territory –...

First, the country was a Nazi ally; then it became a NATO stooge. The latest allegation: It’s a reckless Russia-basher that deserves a ruthless response from the Kremlin. Who said Finland was boring? Amid all the focus on Russia’s war against Ukraine, it is easy to overlook another prime target of Moscow’s imperialist ire. Russia has long used a skewed interpretation of history as a weapon to attack and delegitimize its neighbors—and, if the Kremlin’s latest rhetorical escalation is any guide, it now has Finland in its gunsights. The Finns are understandably nervous, given recent precedent: In 2021, Russian leader...

Putin's army would stretch out from Kalingrad like a sword swallowing Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia one by one. But this dream is being shattered by a hammer blow stretching from Riga to Vilnius. While the iron piece was being melted down in Riga's back rooms last month, now this iron is being forged into a hammer in Vilnius, shattering Putin's 50-year Baltic dream. Moreover, this time Belarus will not escape either. In the early days of December 2025, history is being rewritten in Europe's eastern flank, not with ink, but with shattered metal. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. These three tiny...

The balloons, which in some cases are reported to have weighed up to 50–60 kilograms and can fly just over a mile, have repeatedly forced the airport in the capital Vilnius to close during the autumn. Lithuania claims that the balloons are deliberately sent to disrupt Lithuanian airspace and thus constitute an attack on civil aviation, and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen threatened this week to target Belarus with sanctions after what she calls “hybrid attacks.” At the end of October, Lithuania closed the border with Belarus. Ruginiene said at the time that intruding balloons would be shot down....

Political polling ahead of next Tuesday's off-year elections... President Trump raising the notion of Christianity facing an "existential threat" in the African nation... China launching three astronauts into space for the 16th... The messaging of President Trump tonight is that he wants to provide "SNAP" benefits... Tonight the nation of Belarus issuing a ban on Lithuanian vehicles using its border crossings with... A federal district judge in Rhode Island ruling that the federal government must continue to provide food assistance... FBI Director Kash Patel says the FBI thwarted a "potential terrorist attack"... Republican leadership will not use the 'nuclear option'...

Volkswagen will continue to operate...despite cutoff of chips made in China... US and Chinese officials holding trade talks this weekend... US military drones are flying over Gaza... ...airports in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania shut down tonight... Ontario Premier Doug Ford backing down from an advertising campaign... 17 people killed when a rubber boat carrying migrants capsized... Explosions in Kiev late tonight... Attacking Ukrainian drones taken down as they approached Moscow... A secret donor stepping forward...pay US military salaries... ...temporary pause issued by a federal appeals court against President Trump's deployment... United States imposing sanctions on the President of Colombia... Three...

The incident was likely the result of a 'blatant' Russian sabotage operation, Bulgarian authorities told the European Commission. Read More Yvette Cooper warns Britain is 'ready to act' after Trump backs Nato shooting down Russian planes article image 'We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria,' European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said. 'We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia.' 'The whole airport area GPS went dark,' an official brief on the incident told the Financial Times. Russia is feared...

Up to 25 small hot-air balloons, some of them confirmed to be carrying smuggled cigarettes, entered Lithuanian airspace late Saturday and forced the shutdown of Vilnius Airport, delaying flights for hours, authorities said. The balloons interfered with 30 flights, impacting some 6,000 passengers, according to Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center. Flights resumed at 4:50 a.m. Sunday (9:50 p.m. ET, Saturday). Two of the balloons flew above Vilnius Airport, according to spokesperson Darius Buta. More than two dozen reached the wider Vilnius County. The balloons were recorded flying between roughly 8:45 p.m. Saturday and 4:30 a.m. Sunday. Border police recovered 11...

An incident involving sightings of aerial objects in Lithuanian airspace led to a temporary shutdown at Vilnius Airport over the weekend, according to investigators. The sightings, which officials have now confirmed were nearly two-dozen unauthorized hot-air balloons, delayed flights for several hours on Sunday. The balloons were reportedly carrying contraband cigarettes into the country’s airspace, investigators said. Officials with Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Center said the incursion was one of the largest of its kind in recent memory, impacting close to 6,000 passengers on Sunday morning. The incident unfolded amid heightened concerns over recent reports of alleged drone incursions in...

The Baltic Defense Line established by Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania has become the largest fortification effort in Europe since World War II. The multi-layered defensive installation includes anti-tank obstacles, surveillance systems, trenches, and bunkers. The “East Shield” is intended to protect these nations, and therefore Europe, from Russian invasion, which they believe is inevitable. Estonia announced that it has begun construction of a 40-kilometer trench along its border with Russia. Other Baltic States, such as Lithuania and Latvia, have constructed “dragon’s teeth” or anti-tank barriers that act as large pyramid-shaped concrete obstacles for armored vehicles. The three Baltic states will...

This is an excellent 32 minute history lesson on the conflict between the Baltic Countries, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia vs Russia. It's the best summary that I have found.

VILNIUS, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Defense informed European countries last week that military support under a program known as Section 333 will be cut to zero from the next fiscal year, a Lithuanian defence ministry official said on Friday. Two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday the United States will phase out some security assistance for European countries near the border with Russia, raising concerns among key recipients such as Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia - former Soviet republics now in NATO and the European Union. Lithuania's Defence Ministry Policy Director Vaidotas Urbelis told reporters...

Lithuania has revealed plans to dig a 30-mile-wide ribbon of defences on its borders with Russia and Belarus that will include minefields and bridges set to blow up in case Russia invades. The plans are part of a Baltic-wide push for more defence, amid increasing aggression from Russia and its allies. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, alongside Poland, have been fortifying their borders, adding obstacles and redoubts to existing fences. All four are also looking for EU funding for these projects. When complete, having been in the works since early last year, the Baltic defence line is estimated to be more...

A Lithuanian same-sex couple has been declared a legal family by a court in Lithuania, a historic victory for LGBTQ+ people in the Baltic nation. The two women in the couple, whose identities have not been made public, were living together and wanted to have their cohabitation recognized by the government as a form of partnership. The Vilnius City District Court agreed and ruled that the state should create a way for them to register their relationship. The Lithuanian constitution bans same-sex marriage, and the country’s Civil Code also bans the recognition of same-sex relationships as civil partnerships. Nevertheless, the...

Authorities in Belarus scrambled a fighter jet and flagged what turned out to be a false bomb alert to force a Ryanair plane to land on Sunday and then detained an opposition-minded journalist who was on board, drawing criticism from across Europe. In the dramatic incident, a Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jet escorted Ryanair-operated passenger plane flying from Athens to Lithuania. The plane was suddenly diverted to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, where authorities detained journalist Roman Protasevich. Data from the flightradar24.com website showed the plane was diverted just two minutes before it was due to cross into Lithuanian airspace. After...

The top Kremlin-installed official in the oblast, Yevgeny Balitsky, said Russia should also have its eye on the Baltic states, as well as Poland and Finland, all five of which are NATO countries... In the interview shared by Russia watcher Julia Davis, Balitsky seemed ready to take on the alliance as he spoke of how the Russian Empire that ended with the 1917 revolution had "lost its footing" as well as "great numbers of people." "I'm not even talking about territories. I understand that it includes Warsaw, Helsinki, also known as Helsingfors," he said... "I don't believe in any diplomacy...