In his speech to parliamentarians on May 1 to mark EU accession, Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis declared that Lithuania's future foreign policy goals would involve attempts to bring nations further east, such as Ukraine and Georgia, into Western organizations.
Valionis further pledged that Lithuania would be an active member of the union and that the Foreign Ministry was prepared to defend the country's interests.
Official registration of candidates for the presidential election ended on May 3 with a total of 10 hopefuls having submitted the necessary documents to the Central Electoral Committee. In addition to frontrunners Valdas Adamkus, a former president, and Rolandas Paksas, who was removed from the office in April, Social Security and Labor Minister Vilija Blinkevi-ciute registered her candidacy at the last minute.
The daily Lietuvos Zinios reported that acting President Arturas Paulauskas would testify against Gintaras Surkus (photo), a former aide of impeached Presi-dent Rolandas Paksas, in slander trials related to comments Surkus made about Paulauskas. The president will also give testimony in related investigations against former Paksas advisers Valentinas Mazuronis and Vitale Vinickiene.
U.S. law enforcement officials apprehended Gintaras Petrikas, a Lithuanian citizen wanted for embezzling over 25 million euros in deposits to his EBSW in the mid-1990s. Petrikas, who was captured in California, will remain abroad for at least another 10 months awaiting extradition to Lithuania, where he will stand trial.
Three beaches, including Nida's on the Curonian Spit, received blue-flag ratings of cleanliness in late April. Nida officials had been worried that an offshore oil platform constructed this winter by the Russian petroleum giant Lukoil only a few kilometers away from the popular resort would disrupt water quality.
