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Nine EU states are targeting the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights in a wider bid to deport unwanted migrants. A letter spearheaded by Denmark, which is set to take over the rotating EU presidency from July, is demanding more leeway on deporting people who have committed crimes. Published on Thursday (22 May), the letter was signed by leaders of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, and Poland. It faults the court for placing rights restrictions on deportations of "criminal foreign nationals". They are also unhappy on how the court interprets the European Convention on Human Rights,...

Russia's supply of cheap oil is running out, another major blow for Vladimir Putin as he continues to grapple with a growing economic crisis. Businesses and consumers across the country are reeling under the effects of spiralling inflation and high interest rates. In April, the Central Bank confirmed it would keep the key interest rate at 21% for the foreseeable future, much to the bitter disappointment of the Kremlin and business leaders. Many firms are fighting to stay afloat, as they attempt to pay back bank loans originally secured during more favourable economic times. -snip- Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov...

A statue of Feliks Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Soviet secret police, Cheka, was unveiled in front of the headquarters of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) in Moscow on September 11. The statue is a replica of a larger Dzerzhinsky statue, one of the symbols of Soviet repression, which was pulled from its pedestal outside KGB headquarters in August 1991. SVR Director Sergei Naryshkin said at the ceremony for the statue's unveiling that Dzerzhinsky's face on the original and new statues is turned toward Poland and Baltic states "because the threat to Russia from the northwest remains."

Germany has embarked on its first permanent foreign deployment since World War II, with the nation's parliament approving the dispatch of troops to eastern Lithuania, along NATO's eastern boundary. This marks a historic moment for Germany, as it will be the inaugural occasion of a continuous German military presence overseas since the Second World War. The full operational capability of the unit is expected by 2027. Brigadier General Christoph Huber, who leads the brigade, stated, "We have a clear mission. We have to ensure the protection, freedom and security of our Lithuanian allies here on NATO's eastern flank." While Germany...

The fourth and final missing U.S. soldier whose armored vehicle sank in a swamp in Lithuania last week was found deceased Tuesday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the incident is "another stark reminder of the selfless sacrifice of our brave military men and women who risk their lives around the world every day to keep us safe." U.S. Army Europe and Africa said earlier today that "Police working dogs from the Lithuanian Armed Forces began work yesterday afternoon and NATO ally Estonia joined the recovery efforts early this morning." "Two Estonian recovery dogs, Tilt and Maik,...

World 3 of 4 U.S. soldiers missing in Lithuania found dead, Army says By Alex Sundby Updated on: March 31, 2025 / 11:44 AM EDT / CBS News Three U.S. soldiers who had been at the center of a recovery mission in Lithuania for nearly a week after their armored vehicle sank in a body of water were found dead Monday, the Army said. Efforts were continuing to find the fourth soldier. The soldiers' identities were being withheld pending notification of their next of kin, the Army said in a statement Monday. The three soldiers found Monday were assigned to...

A U.S. armored vehicle that went missing in Lithuania has been retrieved from a swamp after a six-day search but there is still no information about the fate of the four American soldiers who were on board, Lithuanian officials said Monday. “The armored vehicle was pulled ashore at 4:40 a.m., the towing operation is complete, Lithuanian Military Police and US investigators continue their work,” Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said Monday morning in a post on Facebook. The soldiers were on a training exercise at the massive General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė when they and their...

In Lithuania, according to The Kyiv Independent, the tension is palpable. "Discussions about a possible Russian invasion are very frequent," said a resident of Vilnius, the country's capital. "The war won't break out tomorrow, but we're preparing," says the Lithuanian Defence Minister, Dovilė Šakalienė. Sönke Neitzel, a German military expert in an interview with the daily Bild, claims that "this could be the last summer of peace in Western Europe". According to the expert, the current situation of uncertainty is partly caused by the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. He also highlights the...

Four U.S. Army soldiers were missing Wednesday in Lithuania after disappearing during a training exercise, the U.S. embassy in Vilnius said in a statement posted on social media, thanking the Baltic nation's military and police for helping American forces search for them. The embassy said in a post on social media that the troops went missing from a training area near Pabrade, near Lithuania's far eastern border with Belarus, a nation closely allied with Russia. The embassy did not say when the soldiers went missing. "The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting scheduled tactical training at...

Throughout Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, repeated and escalating warnings of the potential for a wider war have only raised fears in the Baltic states that they could be next in the crosshairs of the Kremlin. Talk about a potential Russian invasion is "very common at parties, gatherings, lunch breaks, water cooler talk," Gabija Stasiukyne, a 32-year-old living in Vilnius, told the Kyiv Independent. "It’s everywhere. The conversation inevitably turns in the direction of — what are you going to do?" Lithuania's government is also taking the threat seriously — the country reinstated conscription in 2015, and Vilnius in January...

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia intend to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention banning the use and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines, the defense ministers of the four countries have announced in a joint statement. The ministers said that since signing the treaty, “the security situation in our region has fundamentally deteriorated.” Leaving the 1997 treaty, which has been ratified or acceded to by more than 160 nations but not by Russia, will allow Poland and the three Baltic countries to start stockpiling landmines again. The ministers highlighted the threat posed by Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, describing the situation as...

Lithuania announced on Thursday that it has withdrawn from an international convention banning the use of cluster bombs. The formerly Soviet-ruled Baltic state of 2.8 million people has also signalled its intention to leave another international treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personnel land mines, News.Az reports, citing AFP. NATO member Lithuania has said it wants to strengthen its defences following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fearing it could be next if Moscow succeeds. The Lithuanian parliament voted to leave the cluster munitions convention last July, but the cvountry had to wait six months after submitting exit documents to the UN for...

In many parts of Europe and beyond, the end of the First World War did not mean an end to the fighting. >Russian Civil War 1917-1923 ... >Finnish Civil War 1918 Finland was a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire when the First World War broke out. The Russian Revolution in 1917 left a power vacuum in Finland and a struggle ensued between the conservative Whites who wanted independence from Soviet Russia and the socialist Reds who opposed the separation. >German Revolution 1918-1919 ... >Estonian-Soviet 1918-1920 Estonia was part of the Russian Empire when the First World War began. It...

🇨🇦 Canada 🇪🇸 Spain 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇫🇮 Finland 🇳🇴 Norway 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇮🇸 Iceland 🇪🇪 Estonia 🇱🇻 Latvia 🇱🇹 Lithuania Several more are still expected

In the late 18th century, Russia, Austria, and Prussia finished with the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This state was a union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had dominated Eastern and Central Europe for centuries.., But before its era of weakness, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a power to reckon with. It controlled a large chunk of territory spanning from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Lithuania’s history began in the early 13th century when local pagan Baltic tribes organized themselves into a single state. By 1230, the chieftain Mindaugas emerged as the leader...

Poland is the only country in the world to invoke Napoleon in its national anthem. Andrzej Nieuwazny explains how Bonaparte has retained a hold over Polish imagination throughout the last two centuries. Edouard Driault, the great historian of the Napoleonic period, used to say that Poland `is more Napoleonic than France'. Although this remark may seem to be exaggerated, the durability and the strength of the legend of Napoleon in Poland cannot be doubted. The Poles are the only people in the world to sing about Bonaparte in their national anthem. Napoleon's rule in France lasted for only fifteen years,...

Lithuania and Estonia have responded to “good and constructive pressure” from US President Donald Trump to become the first Nato countries to promise to spend more than 5 per cent of their GDP on defence in a drive to sharply increase military capabilities. Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times that Europe was facing a “new era” after the Baltic state, which is next to Russia, said it would spend between 5 per cent and 6 per cent of its GDP on defence from next year until at least 2030. That is about double the current level. “Of...

The Good Nazi” is one of those rare films that weave together science, history and extremely personal human stories. During the Holocaust, a german army Major named Karl Plagge, arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania as part of the occupation force. When he saw that the SS was hellbent on murdering every Jewish man, woman and child, Plagge decided to save Jews, rather than murder them. So he ran a covert operation. On the surface, he was commandant of a forced labor camp called “HKP”. In reality, he was sheltering hundreds of Jewish families. By the end, many were saved in hiding...

In the crypts of a Lithuanian cathedral, researchers have discovered a trove of royal treasure: crowns, jewelry and a scepter that belonged to several Lithuanian-Polish monarchs from the 15th and 16th centuries. The regalia had been hidden for 85 years—since it was stowed for safekeeping beneath the Vilnius Cathedral in southeastern Lithuania.Last fall, experts were invited to explore Vilnius Cathedral's subterranean level, where they used an endoscopic camera to look into cracks and holes in the crypt's walls. In December, the researchers opened "a secret hiding place" in the church's crypts, "where the royal regalia was hidden at the outbreak...

Russian TV host Vladimir Solovyov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, recently called for Alaska's return to Russia during a recent Russian-state media program. -snip- During the recent program, Solovyov said Finland, Warsaw, the Baltics, Moldova, and Alaska should be "returned to the Russian Empire." "Do you think I'm joking when I mention Finland, Warsaw, the Baltics, Moldova? Everything returned to the Russian Empire. And Alaska too, while you're at it," Solovyov said in a translated video.