General Information
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km2 (25,200 sq mi), and has a population of 2.9 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities include Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys. Lithuanians are the titular nation, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of Balts, and speak Lithuanian.
- Population: 2,800,000+
- Area: 65,300 km²
- Coordinates: Latitude: 54.683334350586, Longitude: 25.316667556763
- Timezone: Timezone info not available
- Current Local Time: ailab
Latest Lithuania News
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Šiaurės Korėjos lyderis Kim Jong Unas stebėjo raketos su dirbtiniu intelektu paleidimą
Šiaurės Korėjos valstybinė žiniasklaida sekmadienį pranešė, kad šalies lyderis Kim Jong Unas (Kim Čen Unas) kartu su dukra stebėjo raketos paleidimą, o jos trajektorijai koreguoti, pranešama, buvo panaudotas dirbtinis intelektas (DI).
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Latvijos parlamento rinkimuose suskaičiuota apie 97 proc. balsų: aiškėja naujosios Saeimos sudėtis
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POLITICO
Germany’s Merz visits Kyiv amid fears of ‘hardest’ winter in war
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on Sunday morning for an unannounced one-day visit, which is expected to deliver new military, financial and economic support pledges but is also overshadowed by tensions over Ukraine’s desire to quickly join the EU. Merz is planning to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss support against Russia’s escalating war, particularly in the sector of air defense and long-range offensive weapons, as well as peace initiatives. Ukraine is facing harsh Russian drone and missile attacks on its infrastructure, power and heating plants as well as other civilian targets, which are feared to further intensify this winter. Kyiv warned this week that it’s running out of funds to buy weapons to defend itself, highlighting a €24 billion defense funding gap, to which the European Union reacted by accelerating the disbursement of a €45 billion loan. Germany is the biggest contributor to the financial and military support for Ukraine. This is Merz’s first bilateral visit to Kyiv and his second trip as chancellor, after travelling there in May 2025 visit alongside leaders from France, the U.K. and Poland. It comes just a few days after the embattled chancellor vowed to maintain his government’s strong support to Ukraine, despite the rise of the far-right, Russia-friendly Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). “If we fail to stop Moscow, sooner or later the Russian war machine will turn against us — against NATO itself,” Merz said Thursday during a speech in Münster, Germany. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz shakes hands with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, on July 7, 2026. | Pool photo by Michael Kappeler/AFP via Getty Images He also warned that, “in a few weeks, the fifth winter of the war will begin”, which “likely be the hardest one yet.” Ukrainians “are bracing themselves for intense ballistic missile attacks, for destroyed power plants and schools, and for damaged apartment buildings and churches. Ukraine must survive this winter, and I am convinced that it will. It can count on our help,” Merz added, highlighting German help such as new interception systems against jet drones or repairs for bombed power plants. Merz and Zelenskyy held a call on Wednesday, which focused on convincing European and international allies like Japan to deliver more Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine as well as procuring fresh ammunition for Kyiv’s F-16 fighter jets, which are efficient in downing Russian jet drones with their onboard cannon. Last month, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Germany would transfer Patriot PAC-2 interceptor missiles from its own stocks to Ukraine, and called on other states to follow suit. Following the attempted drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane in Leipzig in August, for which Germany blamed Russia, Berlin announced that its intelligence services would help Ukraine with supplying targeting data for long-distance strikes against Russia’s military as well as its industrial base. Merz has refused to supply Germany’s prized Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, despite calling for it when he was opposition leader. Yet his government delivered financial and technical assistance for the development of Ukraine’s own long-range weapons. On Thursday, Zelenskyy announced the successful test of Ukraine’s FP-7 ballistic tactical missile. Both sides are also planning a German-Ukrainian economic forum in Kyiv on Sunday to discuss further investments and cooperation in trade. However, there are also tensions between Merz and Zelenskyy when it comes to Ukraine’s desire to swiftly join the European Union. The German Chancellor has voiced skepticism that an EU accession would be possible in the coming years and instead proposed an “associated membership” that would grant Ukraine access to the EU’s single market and an observer status in the Council of the EU, the European Commission and the European Parliament, but without any voting rights. Zelenskyy, however, has rejected the proposal, saying that Ukraine needs “full and equal” membership. Merz’ visit comes amid renewed attempts to seek a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who met with his Russia counterpart Sergei Lavrov in New York last weekend, has welcomed a U.S. invite for Vladimir Putin to the G20 leaders’ summit in Miami in December, saying it could be a chance for serious negotiations. However, so far “Russia’s leadership shows no real interest in putting an end to its deeply inhumane fantasies of subjugation and conquest,” Wadephul said on Friday. “It intends to continue the war against Ukraine.”
POLITICO
EU neighbors shun Kyiv’s plea to free trapped grain
BRUSSELS — Domestic farmers’ worries are trumping EU solidarity with Kyiv as the Black Sea blockade threatens to fuel a global food crisis and stunt Ukraine’s next harvest. Ukraine needs help getting millions of tons of grain exports out of the country, as attacks on ports and ships continue into a third month. Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi came to Brussels this week to make a direct appeal to his EU counterparts. Ukraine needs to be able to move more farm products through Europe, as well as €1.1 billion to cover higher shipping costs. Without help, cash-strapped farmers won’t be able to start planting for next season, compounding the problem. “It’s very, very critical,” Vysotskyi told POLITICO during his visit. The answer: Sorry, but no. Two of the countries with the most vital infrastructure for boosting shipping and storage capacity, Poland and Romania, said there is nothing more they can or will do to help. “The interest for our own farmers remains a priority,” Barna Tánczos, Romania’s agriculture minister, told POLITICO. Excess Ukrainian grain, combined with low water levels on the Danube, is already overloading his country’s ports, preventing Romanian farmers from selling their own goods. The rebuff illustrates a persistent gap between the EU’s ambitions to support Ukraine and domestic political realities. As one of the world’s breadbaskets, Ukraine poses a real threat to the livelihoods of European farmers, a powerful constituency in many member countries. Even before the latest eruption in Black Sea fighting, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary barred imports of Ukrainian grain. Currently, less than half of the exports are able to get out through the European rail, road and river shipping routes, Vysotskyi said. Up to 35 million tons could end up being stuck in Ukraine this year if the blockade persists. Romania is trying to optimize its logistics, Tánczos stressed. Last month, Bucharest even signed a memorandum of understanding to ease border crossings with Kyiv and boost rail links. But “everybody knows we cannot double the number of trains, we cannot double the roads, railways and port capacity,” Tánczos said. “It is what it is.” In Poland, the infrastructure ministry “has no plans to introduce any changes aimed at increasing the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products,” spokesperson Anna Szumańska said in a statement. Though help isn’t coming immediately, the EU isn’t ruling out a collective response. “We need … to address this,” Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen told reporters this week, citing concerns for global food security — though he made no commitments. EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Christophe Hansen, speaks during an interview at the EU headquarters in Brussels on February 24, 2026. | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images Some capitals are volunteering more support. As Ukraine eyes Dutch and German ports as new outlets, a German agriculture ministry spokesperson said Berlin “is making every effort in Europe to ensure that alternative export routes … are strengthened.” Spiraling to next season In an interview, Vysotskyi described harvested grain and oilseeds piling up without a buyer — leaving farmers without the cash they need to plant winter seeds now for next year’s harvest. “If the situation stays like this till spring, it could mean the decrease of even 35-40% of the planted area,” he said. The pain will be felt beyond Europe. As Russia and Ukraine trade bombs in the Black Sea, more than 17 percent of the world’s traded grain could be affected by the drop in exports from both countries, according to a recent Council on Foreign Relations report. “The number of people driven into acute hunger by the current Black Sea crisis could exceed all recorded battlefield casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war,” the report warns. Yet the pain for European farmers — struggling with drought, heatwaves and spiking prices for fuel and fertilizer — is real too. Iulia Blagu, a Romanian cereal farmer, described looking out at unharvested fields, “at the mercy of God and the climate,” because the crops can’t be stored or transported. “And then you have this entire transit of Ukrainian cereals coming towards our country,” she said. “I mean … how can we handle that?” Ketrin Jochecová contributed to this report.
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Bosnia elections pit EU hopes against Russian influence
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