Schengen thumbs-up likely for Lithuania

VILNIUS - The latest round of inspections by EU officials ahead of  Lithuania joining the Schengen border-free zone has gone smoothly, according to reports in the Verslo Zinios newspaper.

In recent days, Council of Europe experts have been carrying out inspections of the iterior ministry, police departments, Vilnius airport and other government institutions. By the time they departed on Sep. 19 to continue their inspections in Latvia, they were reportedly satisfied with what they had seen.

According to Interior Ministry spokesman Olegas Skinderskis, "The head of the group said everything he had seen in Lithuania made a profound impression on him, particularly keeping in mind that all this had been done in a very short period of time. He said we could expect a favourable report."