Lietuva in brief

On Tuesday, 2 December, several schools launched an indefinite strike. The trade unions had said beforehand that more than a hundred schools would join the strike, but according to the Ministry of Education and Science the actual number was ten times lower. Moreover, in some schools only few teachers were on strike. On the other hand, only 4 teachers of 39 are working in Vilnius Juventos Gymnasium in which the curriculum in the Russian language.
“Is it normal that in summer teachers are not informed about how many lessons they will have in autumn? Neither do they know if there is a workplace to return to altogether. Is it normal that a novice teacher is paid LTL 1200 (EUR 348) and has to work in several schools?” wondered a teacher of the Lithuanian language and psychology Lilija Jankeliuniene. “They say there is no money to solve problems of the educational sector. Why was it not the issue when salaries of judges, the Seimas and officials were increased?”

On December 2, in a turn of events that could be a sign of closer relations between Lithuania, Belarus and the Russian enclave of Belarus, at least in the context of trade, the three countries are going to co-operate in the fields of transport and logistics. “Lithuania will provide assistance in transport and logistics matters and trade in general,” Belarusian Prime Minister said, according to BelTA reports. Belarus has been making moves over the last month, with the Ukraine crisis continuing, to make overtures towards closer relations with the EU, especially in terms of agricultural exports.

On November 24 the Lithuanian pagan community elected its new leader of Romuva, a religious organisation that seeks to revive the religious practices of the the Lithuanian people before their Christianization.
The appointment has gone to the pagan priestess Inija Trinkuniene, a sociologist at the Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, and the wife of the former chief priest Jonas Trinkunas, who passed away this spring.
Romuva is a polytheistic pagan faith that extolls the virtues of nature and draws strength from ideas of ancestral heritage. Many combine this faith with the practice folkloric festivals, art and music.