Lithuania

Think Tank News

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In April we continued working actively on the issues of higher education. The Parliament passed amendments to the Law on Science and Studies, incorporating our recommendations submitted in March. Among them is the provision enshrined in the law that well-learning students “shall be granted” studentships (the original wording of the bill was “may be granted” studentships). We understand that there is still a number of pressing issues to be solved as regards the higher education…

Economy

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In recent years, the Baltic States have been showcased as an austerity success story. While the whole world has seen countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal struggling to reduce their public spending, Lithuania has been hailed as an austerity example. Lithuanian success in public spending cuts has been widely acknowledged; yet simultaneous tax increases and their harmful effects have received less attention. Since the end of 2011, however, the country once again found itself…

Economy

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On March 2, EU-25 leaders signed the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, commonly called the Fiscal Compact. The Treaty was not signed by the Czech Republic and Great Britain. Lithuania joined the treaty, but it still needs to be ratified by the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas). Not being a member of the eurozone, Lithuania would be able to choose, which particular provisions of the treaty to commit to. However,…

Politics

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As The Lithuania Tribune writes a new party was granted a persmission fo be registered – the Lithuanian People’s Party, established by Vladimir Romanov. After regsistration in the Register of Legal Entities party will be formally set up. At the same time documents submitted by Democratic and Labour Party and Emigrants Party were rejected as they failed to “meet the legal requirements”. To take part in the closest parliamentary elections, the parties will have to…

Economy, Politics

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The Lithuania Tribune writes that on March 29 president Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Johaness Hahn, EU Commissioner for Regional Policy. The main topics of the meeting included EU financial framework for the period 2014-2020 and the EU Cohesion Policy. Dalia Grybauskaitė expressed Lithuanian dissatisfaction with the proposal concerning rules of EU aid’s distribution. Lithuania puts emphasis on the importance of the interests and member states’ level of development. More information here.  

Economy

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A survey of the Lithuanian economy conducted by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute (LFMI) shows that eurozone problems do not leave anybody cold. Lithuania failed to join the eurozone in 2007 because it missed the inflation criteria by only 0.06 per cent. At the time, it was considered a big political failure. However, given the present vulnerability of the eurozone, it may look like a windfall success. The national currency, the litas, is pegged to…

Politics

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As The Lithuania Tribune writes Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano in Seoul, during the Nuclear Security Summit. President Grybauskaitė emphasised that works at both the Ignalina nuclear power plant and the planned Visaginas nuclear power plant are carried out with full respect for nuclear safety requirements. However, she pointed out concern when it comes to the safety of planned nuclear power plants in…

Economy

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According to The Lithuania Tribune Lithuanian foreign debt increased in the last quarter of the year 2011 by 1.4% (1.1 bln litas). Total foreign debt consists of both governmental debt and private enterprises’ debts. Throughout whole year 2011 foreign debt of Lithuania increased by 3.1% and reached 85.7 bln litas. Ratio of debt to GDP in 2011 decreased from 87.4% (in 2010) to 80.8%. The biggest part of the foreign debt is constituted by government’s…