The EU's Education, Youth and Culture Council officially named Vilnius and Linz (Austria) as the European Capitals of Culture in 2009. Culture Minister Vladimiras Prudnikovas was quoted as expressing gratitude for allowing the Lithuanian capital to become the first among new EU members to host the event. In the minister's words, upon receiving the official papers, Vilnius will start preparing for the occasion.
Parliament's committee on budget and finance disapproved of the Finance Ministry's plans to borrow 105 million litas (30.4 million euros) for the purchase of one passenger plane and three transport aircraft. Jonas Lionginas, committee chairman and a representative of the Labor Party, said the committee was not given serious reasons why additional funds should be allocated for the planes. "We disapprove of allocating additional funds from the budget for an aircraft. Let the Defense Ministry decide what its priorities are and redistribute the funds that have already been allocated for it," Lionginas said. The ministry responded by saying it would try to persuade lawmakers of the need for the aircraft, which would be purchased with funds that the Finance Ministry would borrow, with the loan being repaid by the Defense Ministry from its budget assignations.
The British Royal Air Force will perform an observation flight over Lithuania in the framework of an agreement on open skies this week. An Andover C Mk1 airplane was set to land at the Air Force Aviation Base in Zokniai on Nov. 14, and representatives of a British arms control group were to perform an observation flight over the country, the Defense Ministry stated.
The last fragments 's the hull, main systems and units and the pilot's ejection seat 's of the Su-27 fighter that crashed in Lithuania in September were returned to Russia. Previously, the aviation cannon with live rounds, two short-range air-to-air missiles R37, two middle-range air-to-air missiles R27, fragments of the fighter's heat-seeking and radar missile defense system, fragments of a R37 warhead containing radioactive metal, pilot's gear, and information storage media (tapes) were returned.
The VIP Security Department officers detained a Finnish citizen who had been urinating on a flagpole near the President's Office. The 28-year-old man was taken to the 3rd police commissioner's office of Vilnius. He was later fined 200 litas (EUR 58). About 10 citizens of foreign countries -- Great Britain, Italy, the U.S.A. and others have been arrested for the same offense over recent years.
