Lietuva in brief - 2004-05-20

Prosecutors rejected allegations that state border guard service officer Natalija Zablockaja intentionally injured herself while onboard a Kaliningrad-bound train on May 11. Russian and British journalists have reported that Zablockaja, who was discovered unconscious during a routine document check and claimed to have been attacked, staged the incident herself.

Supporters of impeached President Rolandas Paksas handed petitions to the embassies of fellow EU nations asking for moral support in their struggle to have Paksas placed on the ballot for upcoming presidential elections.

Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas (photo) met with Indulis Emsis, his Latvian counterpart, at the Zokniai air force base on May 17 to discuss regional defense cooperation after NATO accession. Zokniai is home to the four Belgian F-16s deployed in the NATO Baltic air space patrolling mission.

The Danish government donated 58 Mercedes-Benz Unimog transport vehicles to the armed forces. The trucks, valued at 100,000 euros each, are used as multipurpose vehicles by military forces across Europe.

The leadership of the Lithuanian Socialist Party announced its intention to mount a legal initiative founding a communist party in the country before this autumn's parliamentary elections. Organized communism was banned in Lithuania following the country's declaration of independence.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Gintaras Petrikas (photo), who is wanted in Lithuania for the embezzlement of over 80 million litas (23 million euros) in deposits made to his bank, pretended to be a Russian boxing star during his eight-year stay in California. Petrikas was detained by U.S. officials on May 3, and Lithuania has requested his extradition.

Bomb specialists successfully deactivated a World War II-era explosive device discovered in a Kaunas residential district on May 17. Had it exploded, the German-made SD500C aviation bomb would have created a crater with a diameter of 80 meters and sent debris flying more than two kilometers away.

Lithuanian and Swedish officials announced the successful completion of a drug bust that involved the seizure of 16 kilograms of amphetamines worth over 250,000 litas (72,000 euros) in Sweden on May 7.

The state border guard service seized 25,000 packs of cigarettes illegally smuggled into Lithuanian territory from the Kaliningrad oblast on May 14, bringing the total count of cigarette packs intercepted by officers in 2004 to over 1 million. Officials anticipate an increase in smuggling efforts as the government raises tobacco taxes to EU standards.