Free Republic

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.

The country’s prime minister said the incident, the latest in a series of disruptions to undersea infrastructure, underscored the danger of a so-called Russian shadow fleet.The Finnish police on Thursday boarded an oil tanker that the authorities said they suspected was involved in damaging vital undersea cables. They suggested the tanker was part of a shadow fleet used by Russia to avoid Western sanctions.The Estlink 2 submarine cable, which carries electricity between Finland and Estonia, was cut on Wednesday, Finland’s police said in a statement, the latest in a slew of disruptions to undersea infrastructure that are being investigated as...

In Los Angeles no immediate decision to release Erik and Lyle Menendez... Two elderly Israelis hurt in a late-night rocket attack... Two Syrians hurt in an Israeli air attack... Tonight, President-Elect Donald Trump promising tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico...Mr. Trump's statement triggering a phone call tonight from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau... Prosecutors in France asking for a maximum 20-year prison sentence for Dominique Pelicot in the "Mazan rapes" case... Tonight Israeli officials noting no concrete certainty of any ceasefire materializing as it appears Israel, France and the US will say they agree... Biden Administration Special Prosecutor Jack Smith...drop...

Sheinbaum, 61, is poised to make history as Mexico’s first female president and first Jewish head of state. Polls a week before Mexico’s election show her enjoying a wide lead over the next candidate, the conservative entrepreneur Xóchitl Gálvez. Still, after nearly a quarter-century in the public eye, she remains an enigma, known mainly as the low-key protégé of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the charismatic leader known as AMLO. AMLO doesn’t speak English and dislikes traveling abroad. Sheinbaum did postdoctoral research at the University of California at Berkeley; her sister and daughter live in the United States. The president,...

Western security officials say they believe that two incendiary devices, shipped via DHL, were part of a covert Russian operation that ultimately aimed to start fires aboard cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the U.S. and Canada, as Moscow steps up a sabotage campaign against Washington and its allies. The devices ignited at DHL logistics hubs in July, one in Leipzig, Germany, and another in Birmingham, England. The explosions set off a multinational race to find the culprits. Now investigators and spy agencies in Europe have figured out how the devices—electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable substance—were made and...

Restrictions on long-range strikes within Russia by Western weapons supplied to Kyiv should be dropped following confirmation that Vladimir Putin is using North Korean troops to fight Ukraine, Lithuania's president has said. Pyongyang has been supplying Russia with munitions to fight Ukraine but Rutte said the deployment marks "a significant escalation" in its involvement and was "a dangerous expansion of Russia's war." On Monday, the Pentagon said that North Korea had sent 10,000 troops to Russia who could join Moscow's fight against Ukraine in the "next several weeks" amid concerns from South Korea and the U.S. that Moscow might offer...

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have issued a chilling warning: they're prepared to send troops into Ukraine without NATO approval. Fearing Russia's growing aggression, these Baltic nations see themselves as next in line. With historical ties to the Soviet Union and recent Russian threats, they're taking matters into their own hands. Will NATO step in? Or will the Baltics become the first domino to fall?

With a shortage of mortar shells in reserves across Europe, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are setting up their own ammunition factories to be ready in case of a potential attack from Russia. In Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia — three Baltic states on the edge of the European Union that all share a border with Russia — defense is a key concern. All the more so, since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022. According to NATO statistics, the defense spending of the three states greatly exceeded the minimum 2% of GDP in 2023, and...

<p>Baltic leaders reacted warily on Wednesday to reports that Russia could revise the borders of its territorial waters in the region.</p><p>In a draft proposal reported by some Russian media, Russia's Defence Ministry suggests updating the coordinates used to measure the strip of territorial waters off of its mainland coast and that of its islands in the Baltic Sea.</p>

Russia’s Defense Ministry has unilaterally moved to revise the borders of Russian territorial waters in the Baltic Sea, drafting a government decree on the expansion without even bothering to notify NATO members Finland and Lithuania. In reaction to the surprised responses of the Baltic Sea states, the Kremlin on Wednesday issued a statement that seems bound only to make matters worse. Insisting that there’s “nothing political” about the proposed border change, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in the same breath that the “political situation” has in fact “changed significantly” since the borders were drawn. “You see how tensions are...

A senior Ukrainian intelligence official warned about the threat Moscow poses on other nations in Europe, saying "the Russians will take the Baltics in seven days" if allies don't stand up to Russia now. The comment was made by Major-General Vadym Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine's military intelligence directorate (GUR), during an interview with The Economist published on Thursday. The alarm has been sounded before about the potential of Russian President Vladimir Putin looking to start conflicts in the Baltic states. Earlier this year, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote that the Russian leader appeared to...

Russia has blamed the "hostility" of Baltic states for them severing most of their ties with the country. "Because of the openly hostile line of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, all interstate, interdepartmental, regional and sectoral ties with Russia have been severed," said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov on Sunday. She warned Moscow would respond with asymmetric measures, though did not specify exactly what the Baltics had supposedly done. "We will also respond to the hostile actions of the Baltic states with asymmetrical measures, primarily in the economic and transit spheres," Zakharov detailed. Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has...

May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, participants use the month to focus efforts on “eradicating stigma, extending support, fostering public education and advocating for policies that prioritize the well-being of individuals and families affected by mental illness.”The topic of suicide is an important part of this conversation. As Statista's Anna Fleck shows in the following chart, it is a truly global issue, even though estimated rates vary around the world. For example, according to OECD data, out of every 100,000 men in the United States an average of...

Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are building massive new fortifications along their borders with both Russia and Belarus in order to create a common defense line against possible future invasions by Moscow or its allies in Minsk. The Baltic Defense Line as the project has come to be known was an important piece of a new agreement struck between the three nations aimed at reinforcing NATO’s borders with Russia, and the defense will only get tougher. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds noted in a statement about the new agreement that he and the defense ministers of Estonia and Lithuania approved the...

Nato must be ready for Russia launching an “existential” war against the Baltic states “masked by a blizzard of disinformation”, ambassadors from the three countries have warned. Writing exclusively for The Sunday Telegraph, the top diplomats to the UK from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said that Russia could “pivot quickly” from Ukraine to invade the Baltic. And they said that Vladimir Putin’s brutalisation of Ukraine is evoking the three countries’ “darkest memories” of occupation under Stalin. The Estonian ambassador Viljar Lubi, the Latvian ambassador Ivita Burmistre, and Lithuania’s charge d’affaire Lina Zigmantaite, wrote the joint article to mark Friday’s 20...