Lietuva in brief - 2004-09-29

  • 2004-09-29
Just weeks before the parliamentary elections, voters expressed approval for the populist Labor Party and the coalition of the ruling Social Democrats and Social Liberals, a poll conducted on Sept. 9 's 16 and published on www.delfi.lt showed. According to the Spinter pollster, the Labor Party has a 26.9 percent approval rating for the Oct. 10 elections, while the coalition For Work For Lithuania of PM Algirdas Brazauskas and Parliamentary Speaker Arturas Paulauskas is likely to get 16.6 percent. The Rolandas Paksas-headed coalition earned 8.1 percent, while the MP Kazimira Prunskiene-led Farmers and New Democracy Party Union is expected to win 6.9 percent of the vote.

While in Chicago, President Valdas Adamkus urged U.S. businesspeople to invest in Lithuania. During a breakfast meeting in the Windy City on Sept. 24, Adamkus told representatives of influential U.S. companies of the business opportunities in the new EU member. "High-qualified specialists work in Lithuania, an attractive tax system has been created, the country is politically stable and maintains good relations with neighbors, and has experience in Eastern markets," the president's press service cited Adamkus as saying. "I invite you to invest and produce goods in Lithuania, with an opportunity to sell this in the East."

PM Brazauskas on Sept. 23 formed a high-level task force to prepare and harmonize proposals on transit to the Kalinin-grad region via Lithuanian territory. Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis was appointed to head the group. According to Baltic News Service sources, the task force intended to consider proposals on the simplification of Russian cargo transit procedures, wanted by both Russian carriers and representatives of Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways).

The government has begun to take action to stem the sharp population decrease. Presided by Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, a meeting of the governmental strategic planning committee on Sept. 24 addressed the National Demographic Policy Strategy. According to a press release, the strategy covers the welfare of families, public health and immigrants. Statistical data suggests that the number of Lithuanian residents has been on the decrease for many years, dropping by 260,000 people in the 1992-2004 period.

French rock star Bertrand Cantat (photo), who spent 14 months in a Vilnius prison for killing his girlfriend, a famous French actress, left Lithuania for his home country on Sept. 28. The rock star's Lithuanian lawyer Virginijus Leonas Papirtis, who had represented him in court, accompanied Cantat with French law-enforcement officers who had arrived to escort the convict back to France. In spring a court sentenced the French musician to eight years in prison. Cantat served on year in Lithuania and will serve the remainder of his sentence in France.