Stanislovas Jucius, a prominent Lithuanian businessman who mysteriously disappeared in Russia's Kaliningrad region almost month ago, is alive and safe, the governor of the region Georgy Boos said in an announcement reported by BNS on May 18. He made the statement in an interview with Lithuanian public television. "The investigation will really be over. But everyone needs the result 's simply to see Jucius, but that will take some time. His safety is in no danger," Boos said. As of May 22, Lithuania's foreign ministry said it had still not received any official information on Jucius from Russia. After the businessman disappeared on April 18 the media speculated he could have been kidnapped or murdered. Some witnesses said they saw people in military uniforms putting Jucius into a car the day he disappeared.
The US missile cruiser Normandy made a four-day stop Klaipeda port beginning May 19. The 173 meter long ship came to Lithuania on a friendship mission after a visit to Riga as part of a "cognitive-friendly" tour of Baltic Sea ports. In Klaipeda the ship's crew met with locals and participated in a charity campaign at a children's home. The ship left for the Polish port of Gdynia on May 22.
Parliament has launched a new version of its official website in Chinese, Egle Trembo, head of Parliament's public relations department, said on May 21. She said the decision to provide the information in Chinese was made taking into account the development of Lithuanian-Chinese relations. People in Beijing can now browse the website for details on members of Lithuania's single-chamber parliament, parliamentary committees and political groups. Petras Austrevicius, chairman of the Liberal Movement, called the usefulness of this innovation into question, and used it as a reason to criticize parliamentary speaker Viktoras Muntianas. Up to now the information on the website has been posted in English, French and Lithuanian.
A national-style restaurant chain in Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas is offering a substantial discount on food to citizens of Latvia as thanks for supporting Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest, press reported on May 19. Latvian flags and posters reading "Brothers Latvians are given a 20 percent discount" were posted at the city's three Berneliu Uzeiga restaurants. The wording is an apparent reference to Latvia's announcement in the finals that it was awarding 10 points to its 'brother' Lithuania. The chain also added a traditional Latvian dish, a sweet soup made from bread, to their menu. Lithuania likewise gave 10 points to Latvia in the final, but despite the mutual help, out of the 24 contestants Latvia finished in 16th place, and Lithuania in 21st. At press time, The Baltic Times had not heard news of any reciprocal offers by Latvian restaurants.
