Lietuva in brief - 2011-01-06

ne-year command of the Baltic Naval Squadron (BALTRON) will be passed to Lithuania, reports ELTA. Lithuanian Lt. Cdr. Andrius Sirvys will take over the command from Cdr. Indrek Hanson (Estonian Naval Force). In the first half-year of duty Lithuanian naval officers will be accompanied by representatives of Latvian and Estonian naval forces. Lt. Cdr. Sirvys is an experienced naval officer whose career in the Lithuanian Naval Force began in 1997. The Baltic Naval Squadron was established in 1998. The unit includes naval assets and multinational staff manned by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. BALTRON conducts search and neutralization operations of ammunition remaining on the Baltic Sea floor from World War I and World War II, and enhances security of the Baltic territorial sea. The Squadron also serves as a training platform before service in NATO’s naval units.

President Dalia Grybauskaite has been named the Person of the Year again, reports ELTA. In a poll, four out of ten respondents said that the head of state deserved the title of the Person of the Year 2010. The joint Lithuanian-British market research and public opinion company Baltijos Tyrimai has been conducting such a survey for 18 years already in cooperation with the daily Lietuvos Rytas. Grybauskaite was most often named the leader by older women, residents above 30 years old, and people in rural areas. A large number of Lithuanians also think that the president deserves to be on the list of the most prominent world figures. She is ranked seventh in that list. Until now, the people of Lithuania have chosen former President Valdas Adamkus as the Person of the Year the most times  while the first president of Lithuania since the re-establishment of independence, Algirdas Brazauskas, who passed away last year, held the title six times.