Free Republic

The leaders of nine NATO nations from Central and Eastern Europe issued a joint statement on Sunday in support of Ukraine's path to membership in the alliance. "We firmly stand behind the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit decision concerning Ukraine’s future membership," the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Czechia, Romania, North Macedonia, and Slovakia said on Sunday. At that 2008 summit, NATO allies said they "welcomed" Ukraine and Georgia's aspirations to the join the alliance, though no clear timetable has ever been announced.

Six years ago, the Russian navy formed a new army corps whose job it would be to defend Kaliningrad, Russia’s geographically separate outpost on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania. This year, when the war in Ukraine began to go badly for Russia, the Kremlin yanked the 11th Army Corps from Kaliningrad and sent it into Ukraine. Where the Ukrainian army quickly destroyed it. The formation, deployment and destruction of the 11th Army Corps tell a story that’s bigger than the tragic tale of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The corps, sandwiched between two NATO countries along a strategic sea,...

it turns out that zooming in on an ant’s face is an absolute nightmare. A close-up photograph of an ant was sent in as a submission to the 48th annual Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition — and the results are freaky. The tight shot of the tiny insect, captured by Dr. Eugenijus Kavaliauskas of Taurage, Lithuania, shows the ant’s beady red eyes, angry expression and what appears to be long, sharp teeth.

Fears were raised today that Belarus could join the conflict in Ukraine after President Alexander Lukashenko announced he will deploy a 'joint military task force' with Russia on the country's western border. The dictator said this was in response to what he said was a clear threat to Belarus from Kyiv and its backers in the West, claiming without evidence that that Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine were training Belarusian 'radicals' for terror attacks, after announcing plans to deploy joint troops with Moscow. -snip- 'Strikes on the territory of Belarus are not just being discussed in Ukraine today, but are also...

Poland and Norway opened a new gas pipeline via Denmark on Tuesday, hailed as a much-needed alternative to Russian-controlled routes. At a ceremony in Poland, Norway’s Energy Minister Terje Aasland said the opening of Baltic Pipe was “a milestone on the important path towards European independence”... Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it “marks a crucial geopolitical step for all of us.” “Putin uses Russian energy as a weapon to destabilise Europe, to divide us. He cannot be allowed to succeed,” Ms Frederiksen said, referring to the Russian president. Poland, one of the fiercest advocates in Europe of isolating Moscow,...

Turkish Bayraktar TB2 have destroyed more than 800 Russian targets in ongoing war between Russian and Ukraine including two Ilyushin IL-76 strategic airlifter and more than 120 tanks Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial reconnaissance and strike vehicles turned out to be quite an effective weapon in the fight against various kinds of targets. As it turned out, these drones showed the greatest efficiency in the fight against MLRS, air defence systems and tanks, destroying more than 120 units of heavy combat vehicles and more than 280 missile launchers, although drones even account for combat aircraft and helicopters. According to statistics published...

Latvia and Estonia have withdrawn from a cooperation framework between China and over a dozen Central and Eastern European countries on Thursday, following in the footsteps of Lithuania which withdrew last May. The move comes during Western criticism towards China for escalating military pressure on Taiwan, a democratically-ruled island that China claims as its own territory. “Past participation in the 16+1 format has not yielded the desired economic results,” Latvia’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters. Relations between Lithuania and China worsened after the Baltic nation allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy late last year. “Latvia’s continued participation in the...

Not only citizens of Ukraine will be able to use free train travel on local routes in Lithuania, all people fleeing Ukraine from war with Russia to Lithuania will be able to use free train travel Lithuanian Railways (LTG) said in a statement.

In NATO the smallest members tend to be the most aggressive. It’s probably because they know they wouldn’t be called on to fight any wars they caused. They simply are too small to make a difference. So Lithuania, with an army of just 8,850 active-duty personnel and 5,650 reservists, is now enforcing a blockade of sorts against Russia through Kaliningrad. The latter was seized from Germany at the end of World War II and ended up separated from the rest of Russia after the Baltic States seceded from the Soviet Union. Vilnius is forbidding transport of coal, metals, electronics, and...

General Timo Kivinen said Finland has prepared for decades for a Russian attack and would put up stiff resistance if it happened. He added a crucial factor is Finns would be motivated to fight. The defence chief said: "Ukraine has been a tough bite to chew [for Russia] and so would be Finland." He added the Nordic country has built up a substantial arsenal. General Kivinen said: "We have systematically developed our military defence precisely for this type of warfare that is being waged there [in Ukraine], with a massive use of firepower, armoured forces and also airforces." Helsinki has...

Member states of both NATO and the European Union, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have repeatedly called on NATO to provide a substantial increase in the number of foreign troops stationed in the region following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. The Baltic countries have also pushed for an urgent update to the alliance’s so-called “tripwire” approach. That’s because, under NATO’s existing strategy, Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has warned that the former Soviet state and its historic capital city of Tallinn would be “wiped off the map” in the event of a Russian attack, according to The Financial Times....

NATO needs a more “visible” presence in the Baltics to counter the threat Russia poses from Belarus, Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda warned on Friday. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted a discussion within the transatlantic military alliance about how to best defend its eastern members, with leaders gathering in Madrid next week set to sign off on new plans. Speaking ahead of the summit, Nausėda told POLITICO that “very huge fundamental changes” in neighboring Belarus make Lithuania more vulnerable to a quick Russian attack — and necessitate a shift in the region’s security arrangements. The Lithuanian leader said he would...

Russia has warned Lithuania of "serious" consequences after it banned the rail transfer of some goods to the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Kaliningrad - a strategic region where Russia's Baltic Fleet is headquartered - has no border with mainland Russia. The western territory was annexed from Germany after World War Two in 1945 and is bordered by EU and Nato members Lithuania and Poland. Lithuania says it is only following the EU sanctions imposed ...

MOSCOW, June 22 (Reuters) - A top Russian official warned the West on Wednesday to stop talking about triggering NATO's "Article 5" mutual defence clause in a standoff between Lithuania and Russia. Moscow has promised practical retaliation that will affect Lithuania's population after the Baltic state blocked the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions from Russia to its Baltic exclave. "I would like to warn Europeans against dangerous rhetorical games on the topic of conflict," the Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday.

VILNIUS (Reuters) - Lithuania will be prepared if Russia disconnects it from the regional power grid in retaliation for blocking rail shipments of some Russian goods to Moscow's Kaliningrad exclave, but no military confrontation is expected, its president told Reuters. He spoke after the Kremlin warned Lithuania on Tuesday that Moscow would respond to the ban on the transit of goods sanctioned by the EU to Kaliningrad in such a way that citizens of the Baltic state would feel the pain. With relations between Moscow and the West at a half-century low over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania banned the...

With tensions between Russia and Lithuania rapidly escalating over Lithuania’s trade blockade of Kaliningrad, an escalation looks worryingly likely. So, in this video, we’re going to be explaining Lithuania’s Kaliningrad embargo and where it could lead.

Tensions are mounting around the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, an isolated but strategically significant territory on the Baltic coast that could soon be dragged into the Kremlin’s war. Russia has reacted furiously after Lithuania banned the passage of sanctioned goods across its territory and into Kaliningrad. But Lithuania says it is merely upholding European Union sanctions, and the European bloc has backed it. The row now threatens to escalate strains between Moscow and the EU, which has unveiled several packages of sanctions on Russian goods. Here’s what you need to know about Kaliningrad, its history and its importance to Russia....

Russia warned Monday that it would take action to protect its national interests if Lithuania did not reverse a decision to bar the transit by rail of certain items destined for Kaliningrad, the small Russian exclave that is separated from the rest of the country by the Baltic states. A new potential flashpoint between Moscow and NATO emerged when Lithuania, citing incoming European Union sanctions on Russian steel and other ferrous metals, said those items could no longer be transported across its territory to Kaliningrad. Russia’s foreign ministry said it summoned a senior Lithuanian diplomat and informed her Russia viewed...

LONDON (Reuters) -Russia warned NATO member Lithuania on Monday that unless the transit of goods to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea was swiftly restored then Moscow would take undisclosed measures to defend its national interests. With east-west relations at a half-century low over Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Vilnius banned the transit of goods sanctioned by the European Union through Lithuanian territory to and from the exclave, citing EU sanction rules. Russia's foreign ministry summoned Lithuania's top envoy in Moscow to deliver a protest while the Kremlin said the situation was beyond serious. "The situation is more...

The State Duma has registered a bill repealing the September 6, 1991 resolution recognizing Lithuania's independence. This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the Russian media. The bill was registered by Yevhen Fedorov, a deputy from the United Russia party. He believes that the resolution of the USSR State Council is illegal because it was adopted by an unconstitutional body and in violation of a number of articles of the constitution. In addition, the bill violates the law "On the Procedure for Resolving Issues Related to the Withdrawal of the Union Republic from the USSR", as Lithuania did...