EU and NATO emigrants to get dual citizenship...
VILNIUS - Parliament (Seimas) has passed a new citizenship law that allows children of Lithuanian emigrants in EU and NATO states to gain dual citizenship. The bill will only come into effect when President Valdas Adamkus signs it into law. Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas who is currently touring New York, told reporters   the new edition of the citizenship law will enhance relations between Lithuanian emigrants and their home country. This is a view shared by the head of the World Lithuanian Community, Regina Narusiene and her Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Zemkalnis. Zemkalnis lived in Australia for a number of years and is an example of those whose children will be affe...

  Education Minister turns away university students...
VILNIUS - The new Education and Science Minister, Algirdas Monkevicius, has spoken out against  too many students wanting to go to university. In   a statement which is bound to cause controversy in some circles he called the situation “unnatural.” About 90 percent of school  graduates want to go to university directly after high school. Monkevicius said that he believes that young people should pursue vocational studies. Monkevicius’ comments  reflect a situation where the government is struggling to finance higher education and keep standards up. “We would like as many of Lithuanian citizens as possible to acquire a higher education, yet not all of them shou...

  Adamkus forgives Germany for Nazi occupation...
VILNIUS - The president has dismissed the idea of asking Germany for money for the World War II occupation, saying it might hurt relations between the two countries. Parliamentarians had previously suggested that Germany should foot the bill for their occupation of the country during World War II, but President Valdas Adamkus has vetoed the proposal. Ceslovas Laurinavicius, head of the 20th Century Department at the Lithuanian Institute of History and an expert in Lithuanian relations, said he agrees with Adamkus that hounding Germany for money can only have the negative effect of deteriorating the relationship between the two nations. The Nazi’s killed more than 90 percent of Lithuan...

  Vilnius migration head defends ‘racist’ comments...
VILNIUS - The head of the Vilnius City Migration Service, Gintaras Baguzis, has defended controversial comments which he made on national TV. Baguzis allegedly labeled non-Europeans as terrorist threats to Lithuania.  The official claimed the comments were taken out of context. The official was speaking at a press conference on 60 Chinese immigrants illegally working on chicken farms near the town of Kaisiadorys. “The problems started when Lithuania joined the EU. They cause social and criminal problems. Lithuania is not ready to solve these problems. A person from a third country [non-EU country] is a person of different culture and religion. He is automatically causing problems f...

  Doctors continue taking backhanders...
VILNIUS - Doctors have been found to regularly accept bribes from patients despite changes to the law which made the practice illegal and the creation of a special program tasked with stamping out the phenomenon. Patients frequently bribe doctors in order to receive heightened treatment, a practice that has been illegal since 2006. Despite this, in many cases doctors still receive a ‘gift’ from patients before their consultation in an attempt to get more attention. Patients say they are fearful that they will not be treated properly if they don’t pay up. Lithuanian Bioethics Committee representative Eugenijus Gefenas told The Baltic Times that the government has created a taskforce ai...

  Police make record drug bust...
VILNIUS - Police seized over three kilograms of amphetamines in Lithuania, resulting in the arrest of one Latvian citizen. The record drug haul has an approximate street value of 120,000 litas (35,000 euros). It is the second drug trafficking arrest of a Latvian national in recent days.  The latest incident occurred on June 5 at the Lithuanian-Latvian border. Border guards stopped the suspicious BMW 525 and checked the car using drug detection dogs. They then found a large stash of narcotics behind the front bumper. The police dogs found three foil packets behind the bumper in a factory designed crevice intended for the installation of additional halogen headlights. Police were ...

  EU blasts Parliament on gay rights vote...
VILNIUS - The European Parliament threatened to slap Lithuania with sanctions after politicians moved to eliminate the provisions for gay people from the Law of Equal Treatment. The changes were shot down in a preliminary hearing, but another vote on the issue was scheduled to take place on June 12. The proposed amendments involve removing provisions protecting homosexuals in the Equal Treatment Law. The changes proposed also target disabled people and the elderly. Egidijus Klumbys, a member of the Order and Justice Party, is heading up the proposal that will be considered by the Seimas (Lithuanian parliament). He said that in the constitution there is mention of discrimination laws, but...