Baltija

It is Midsummer season - Jāņi. 🌿☀️🔥🍺🧀 Traditionally commemorated around the Summer Solstice and St. John's, it is a time of great celebration and merrymaking. Floral embellishing, leaf and blossom crowns, feasting, dancing and singing, bonfires, bathhouses. While nowadays it is often seen as little more than an excuse to drink beer and eat seared meats, it is nonetheless an important European festivity with ancient roots. 🇱🇻 Visu gadu Jāni gaidu, Nevarēju sagaidīt; Nu es viņu sagaidīju Pašā Jāņu vakarā. D. 32351 All year for Jānis I wait, I could not await him. Now I have awaited him, On the very Jānis' eve.

A recently opened "Maxima" shop in the Samogitian town of Plongė/Plungė has come to the locals with a sweet surprise - a self-service checkout that guides the customer in the Samogitian language. It is satisfying the hearts of many people who love Samogitia to see that even larger businesses care about the preservation of local identities and decide to promote this idea.

News ❌ 🇷🇺🇧🇾 Lithuania finally revokes all weapon permits issued to Russian, Belarusian citizens Following the parliament’s decision a year and a half ago to ban Russian and Belarusian citizens living in Lithuania from possessing weapons, all permits issued to them have been revoked. According to the Police Department, 294 Russian and 46 Belarusian citizens held permits to keep or carry weapons at the end of 2022 when the amendment was adopted. All of these permits have since been revoked.

“There are two individuals whose weapons have not yet been taken. They have been contacted but are not currently in Lithuania. The weapons will be taken upon their return to Lithuania,”

the Police Department told BNS. At the beginning of the year, all persons were informed in writing about the possibility to voluntarily sell their weapons or hand them over to the police by April 1. Source: BNS @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

Russian Spy Ring cont. An international investigation is underway, the Polish prime minister said. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda did not comment on the information shared by Tusk but said that there could be more acts of sabotage in Lithuania in the future. “Unfortunately, we have information that this kind of sabotage could happen in the future,” he told LRT RADIO, adding that the aim is to spread anxiety and destabilise the society. “Of course, our authorities are vigilant, they are aware of the potential threats, and they will certainly do their utmost to prevent acts of this kind and to apprehend those responsible,” the president added. Last week, Lithuania’s National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC) warned businesses and organisations supporting Ukraine to heighten their vigilance, warning them about potential provocations and advising them to strengthen their fire safety measures. 2/2 Source: LRT @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

🇵🇱🇱🇹💥 Suspects detained in alleged Russian sabotage efforts in Poland, Lithuania – Polish PM Poland has arrested nine members of an alleged Russian spy ring in connection with alleged acts of sabotage in Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, the country’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said. “We currently have nine suspects detained and indicted, who have been directly implicated in the name of Russian services in acts of sabotage,” Tusk told private broadcaster TVN24 on Monday. According to Tusk, those detained are accused of “beatings, arson, and attempted arson” not only in Poland but also in Lithuania, Latvia, and possibly Sweden. Among the examples of sabotage acts Tusk mentioned an attempt to set fire to a paint factory in Wroclaw, western Poland, as well as a fire in the IKEA centre in Lithuania, which broke out last week. 1/2 @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

HIstory ⚔️🪖 Officers of the Lithuanian Army's 7th infantry of the Duke of Samogitia Butegeidis regiment, taking a picture in front of the Klaipėda barracks building. Sometime during the interwar period. Date unknown. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

Some crazy moments in Lithuanian politics. Social Democratic candidate for European Parliament Tadas Vinokur vows to establish Europe-wide kebab price caps to guarantee the right to kebab (2024) @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

News For his part, the VSAT commander Rustamas Liubajevas said that the planned heavy weapons would include both mobile and non-mobile equipment. “The weapons we plan to acquire during the first phase will not require special training. [...] It will be meant for use against soldiers and certain equipment,” he said, adding that the plan is to purchase the equipment by the end of the year. Source: LRT

News 🪖🛂 Lithuanian border guards to be equipped with heavy weapons – minister We are back after a short break! “The Defence Ministry will contribute to equipping border guards with heavy weapons,” Bilotaitė told reporters at the Paluknys airfield. “I wouldn’t like to elaborate as everything is still being sorted out.” The minister on Monday accompanied Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė as they inspected the capabilities of the State Border Guard Service’s (VSAT) Aviation Board. “We share the same vision of the situation, and we are working together to reinforce all services,” she said, adding that the decision to equip border guards with heavy weapons comes in response to the war in Ukraine. Lithuanian border guards have recently been equipped with modern weapons in line with NATO standards, the interior minister pointed out. 1/2

[2/2] Nothing is yet known about who could've been behind this act, but to remind, there have been several analogous provocations in the past: one of them included the vandalization of a monument dedicated to armed Lithuanian anti-soviet partisan leader Adolfas Ramanauskas-Vanagas in several locations across Lithuania. In my opinion, a version exists that this also could've very well been a provocation action by one of the vatniks from the presidential candidate Eduardas Vaitkus group, known for his open pro-kremlin positions and denial that Crimea belongs to Ukraine. Vatniks feel like they can troll anyone with ease here because they think that the situation in Ukraine is uncertain. The question of who were the provocators is yet to be answered and with that a clear message must be sent: vatniks are not going to have a safe and warm future in this country. Source: https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/politics/prezidento-rinkimai-2024-balsavo-jau-daugiau-nei-puse-rinkeju-96481765

[1/2] As the presidential race is currently waging in Lithuania and people are voting for their preferred candidates today as well as the other two (European Parliament and Seimas) elections are soon to come, a provocation took place in one of the central streets of the Samogitian town of Mažeikiai/Mažeikē a couple of days ago. An unidentified person hung a poster featuring the flag of the so called russian federation as well as a portrait of top russian nazi vladimir putin. It also included words written in russian language that meant insults towards the Lithuanian nation. One person who was passing through this stand was a local politician and member of Mažeikiai District Municipality Council Virginijus Sungaila. He reported about the incident to police as well as State Security Departament. Later the poster was removed.

Artwork 🇱🇹🇵🇱 Constitution of 3 May 1971 by Matejko This painting depicts the adoption of the Governance Act better known as the Constitution of 3 May 1791 which was designed to correct the political flaws of the Commonwealth. The painting shows King Stanislaus Augustus on the left entering Saint John's Cathedral in Warsaw alongside members of the Grand Sejm. The Deputies would uphold the Constitution and in the background, a small glance of the Royal Castle can be seen, where the Constitution was just adopted. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

News 🇱🇻 🌍 A seismological station in Latvia detected a small earthquake in Kurzeme, Latvia The Slītere observation station picked up a seismic event on Monday around 10AM. Locals around Liepāja and Saldus shortly after started to notice vibrations around 11AM and these vibrations only lasted for a few short seconds. Earthquakes are pretty rare and unique for the Baltics the last natural earthquake took place in Northern Estonia, in 2022 with a magnitude of 2.3 and earthquakes in the Baltics rarely ever exceed a magnitude of 3. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

News 🇱🇻🇺🇦 Latvia donates toward Ukraine's Energy infrastructure. The Latvian Company Latvernergo donated multiple items of importance toward Ukraine's energy infrastructure. One of the donations was a 250 mega-volt-amper transformer that would be utilized to reconnect Ukraine's energy grid. Due to Russia's intensification of its air assaults on Ukraine, the energy grid was targeted and the damages were felt across Power plants and distribution facilities all across Ukraine. Alongside the transformer, 60 tons of transformer oil and an air compressor were donated. Latvenergo’s Administrative Director, Arnis Kurgs, emphasized the impact of this donation, stating that the delivered equipment will assist Ukrainian residents at the household level and ensure the water supply and heating of essential facilities such as hospitals and schools. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

News 🇱🇻🇷🇺Construction of the border fence resumes! After 5 years, the construction of a border fence on the Latvian-Russian border resumes, and the main priorities are expected to be finished by the end of the year. The work on the fence began in 2015 however in 2019 a criminal case was opened against the contractor, the Road Construction Company Igate. The case was opened because they were commiting fraud during the construction of the fence. As the indictment stated that the objects to be built were instead replaced by cheaper ones during construction including the fence and also the company aided in fraud with the state border guards and construction supervisors. Now the construction has been entrusted to the State Real Estate (VNĪ) who will overlook continuation and supervision. Chiefly the priority is to complete the already built infrastructure and to build the fence in the sections where it does not exist yet. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

News 🇩🇪🇱🇹 Lithuania could become Europe's next ammunition production hub After the Lithuanian government signed a letter of intent with Germany's defence industry giant Rheinmetall, the plans to build a 155mm ammunitions plant are in the works. The letter is not a clear commitment however but more of a promise to discuss or plan the conditions for the investment agreement. If the conditions are met, this could serve as good news for Lithuania as part of the deal would increase ammunitions supply to Lithuania while boosting both economy and security. The production plant would also fill Europe's ammunitions shortage problem. Both the Lithuanian government and private companies are expected to join as partners of the project and financially contribute. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

News 🇪🇪💣 Estonia's waters to host a mine-clearing operation. Dubbed Open Spirit 24, thirteen allied NATO warships will participate in a mine countermeasure operation. Open Spirit 24 takes place in Estonia's waters from April 15-26 and will consist of 14 ships, 11 shore-based divers, and underwater drone crews, totalling up to 700 staff from NATO allies all working together to destroy historical ordances in Estonian waters. Finland and Sweden are first to participate as part of the alliance for the first time. The Leader of the group Commander Ott Laanemets says that Open Spirt will make maritime areas safer and would provide realistic training while building NATO's deterrence posture. The operation is quite historical because it will be the first time NATO's countermeasures groups officially work with the Finnish Navy. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

Event 🇫🇷🇱🇹 France will hold a "Lithuanian Season" art event organized all over France In Autumn, France will host a series of events in 30 french cities between September 12th and until the end of the year. Over 130 projects were selected, and the event has attracted over 500 artists, experts, and performers. The head of the Lithuanian Culture Institute says that the events would allow the French to get to know Lithuanian arts, culture and history, and could open up the two countries to even wider opportunities. Prior to the opening the the Embassy of Lithuania in France is organising dozens of events under the name of the Prelude to the Season and the opening weekend will be full of events in Paris. The Pompidou Centre, in collaboration with the MO Museum in Vilnius, will open an exhibition showcasing Lithuania’s art since the 1960s. @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram

Photography 🇱🇹🪖 Some of Lithuania's Armored cars in the 1920s @OfficialBaltija Website (Coming Soon) | X | Instagram