Lietuva in brief

Booze clampdown

Lithuania’s Prime Minister, Algirdas Butkevicius, has called for the enforcing and legalisation of state-enforced alcohol rehabilitation.
Butkevicius’ comments come after an incident in early November, which took place in the Lithuanian village of Kraziai.
The event saw a local resident under the influence of alcohol kill four women in the village.
According to Butkevicius, alcoholism is one of the main problems facing Lithuanian families.

Congratulations to Poland

Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaite, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius, and Parliamentary Speaker Loreta Grauziniene all congratulated Poland on Oct. – its Independence Day.

In her congratulatory message to Poland and its president, Andrzej Duda, Grybauskate wrote: “We took on a historic commitment – which even in the most difficult of times was the cornerstone of our national mindset – to build free and democratic states.”

Meanwhile, Butkevicius congratulated his Polish counterpart, Ieva Kopacz, by stating: “I truly appreciate mutual understanding and dialogue in developing partnership between our states.”

Grauziniene reflected Butkevicius’ words, adding: “We are interested in continuing to strengthen our partnership, mutual support, and jointly create a unified, safe and prospering region.”

Conscription’s popularity    

According to a recent survey, 54 per cent of Lithuanians are in favour of conscription.

Conscription was re-introduced in Lithuania in March 2015, in light of Kremlin aggression in Ukraine and the Baltic region.

The survey, which took place in Sept. 2014, also saw 21 per cent of those asked answer “I fully disagree,” while 18 per cent responded with “I mostly agree.”

The majority of those opposed were aged 15 to 24.

Lithuania to increase troop presence in Afghanistan

Lithuania’s Defence Minister, Juozas Olekas, has confirmed Lithuania will deploy up to 20 troops to Afghanistan by 2017.

Olekas told BNS that the decision was taken in relation to decisions taken by the United States and other NATO allies, which will keep larger forces in Afghanistan where NATO is conducting its Resolute Support mission.

The troops will comprise of staff officers, plus logistics and communications specialists.

Should the plan be approved by the Lithuanian parliament, the troops will be stationed in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.