President-elect Valdas Adamkus unveiled key appointments to his administration this week. Ambassador to Italy Edminas Bagdonas will become head of the foreign policy group, while high-profile academic Toma Birmontiene (photo) will become presidential legal adviser and Vilniaus Bankas consultant Gitanas Nauseda will head the economic advisory group. Adamkus will be sworn in on July 12.
The Central Election Committee rejected a request from Kazimiera Prunskiene (photo), who lost to Adamkus in the June 27 presidential election, for a vote recount. Prunskiene withdrew a legal appeal to annul the results of the election based on charges of ballot box stuffing in Kaunas, one of Adamkus' largest bases of support.
The Prosecutor General's Office began preparations to strip a number of MPs of their legal immunity in relation to possible corruption investigations. The Special Investigation Service revealed in June that it was probing a group of five parliamentarians for possible bribery in exchange for legislation favorable to undisclosed companies. Prosecutors are expected to disclose the names of parliamentarians under investigation in mid-July.
Acting President Arturas Paulauskas granted former U.S. Congressman Edward Derwinski the Grand Cross of the Commander of the Order of Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas at a July 3 ceremony in Chicago. Derwinski was given the award for his efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives to help Lithuania gain independence from the Soviet Union.
Lithuanian citizens can enjoy visa-free travel to Ukraine beginning July 7. The new travel regime went into effect as a result of a bilateral treaty signed between the two countries in Vilnius on Feb. 25. While Ukrainian citizens are still required to obtain visas to come to Lithuania, the documents are now issued without an invitation or consular fee.
UNESCO voted on July 2 to include the archeological site of Kernave on its list of World Heritage Sites. Kernave, some 30 kilometers north of Vilnius, was the political and economic center of 13th century Lithuania. Vilnius Old Town and the Lithuanian portion of the Curonian Spit also appear on the UNESCO list.
July 6 marked the 751st anniversary of the coronation of Mindaugas, Lithuania's only king and the founder of the Lithuanian state. In a speech to mark the occasion, Paulauskas likened Mindaugas' adept diplomatic maneuvering to Lithuania's accession to NATO this spring and remarked that, as in Mindaugas' times, the current strengthening of the Lithuanian state was perceived negatively by some neighboring countries.
