LRT English Newsletter – April 3, 2026.
Our colleague in Washington managed to secure a doorstep interview with John Coale, the US President's special envoy for Belarus, where he urged Lithuania to engage in talks with Belarus.
And then it all began.
A flurry of statements in Lithuania flooded from all sides. Some business reps sided with the populists and (some of the) social democrats, saying that Lithuania could profit from the renewed trade and, crucially, Belarusian fertiliser transit. The problem, the other camp stressed, is that the fertiliser transit via Lithuania is exactly what would help keep the Minsk regime and its repression apparatus afloat, against which the sanctions were implemented in the first place.
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė stated that Lithuania had preconditions before any talks could take place. However, others said that holding talks with the regime of Alexander Lukashenko would also break the joint EU position of keeping Minsk in international isolation.
So will the dialogue happen? That’s hard to gauge, as there seem to be many more pieces in the puzzle. For example, there are a bunch of Lithuanian politicians and businesses that have direct or indirect interests in renewing fertiliser transit (or other trade) with Belarus – and Russia. We’ll keep trying to piece it all together.
(Meanwhile, a Lithuanian man in Belarus was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “spying”.)
TAKE A RIDE
The fuel crisis sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran has led to the Lithuanian government temporarily halving prices for train tickets. If you do decide to take the train option, there’s now an express service between Kaunas and Vilnius with no stops in between.
As part of additional measures, the government is also considering a windfall tax on Orlen Lietuva, which controls the only oil refinery in the Baltic states, after saying it may have been pricing its fuel unfairly.
WARN US, PLEASE
After Ukrainian drones were diverted off course and ended up crashing in the Baltic states and Finland, Lithuanian officials have asked Kyiv to get a heads-up the next time that may happen. This happened as Kyiv doubled down on its effective campaign against Russian oil exports.
In private, Ukraine’s authorities apparently expressed regret over the stray drone incidents, Lithuanian officials said. In public, however, Kyiv struck a different tone, blaming Russia for actively diverting the drones toward the Baltic states. Vilnius refused to comment on the allegations.
TAIWAN RE-PIVOT?
Lithuania has prepared an action plan to deepen ties with Taiwan, focusing on upping cooperation in the high-tech sector.
This follows earlier statements by the Lithuanian prime minister that the Taiwan pivot gave few benefits and left Vilnius out in the open by itself against China. The government also said one of its foreign policy goals was to restore ties with Beijing, with the prime minister going as far as to say that the name of the Taiwanese trade office could be changed (which was contradicted immediately by the president).
Recall, when Taiwan first opened its trade office in 2021, it promised investments and joint projects, including with Taipei’s lucrative and crucial microchip sector. But business reps, as well as politicians, say – both publicly and privately – that the promising relationship failed to live up to the hype.
IRREGULAR MIGRATION UPTICK
Lithuanian authorities have reported several dozen pushbacks as migrants have attempted to cross the border from Belarus irregularly. The number of attempted entries has been steadily decreasing since the height of the crisis in 2021, when the Minsk regime opened an irregular migration corridor into the EU in response to sanctions that were placed following the anti-democratic crackdown. It’s unclear whether the recent increase is linked to better crossing conditions after the harsh winter, or it shows a new trend.
EDITOR’S PICKS:
– Here’s some of the backstory to the stabbing of a Nigerian football player.
– Claim your place for a free Lithuanian language course in Vilnius.
– People in Lithuania may soon be able to pay for food, medicine, and fuel during emergencies without an internet connection, the central bank says.
– A Lithuanian firm has sold the country’s first domestic supercar.
– Take a look at Lithuania's Venice Biennale pavilion.
– Read a new LRT Investigation on how a Lithuanian business is linked to Lukashenko’s duty free trade.
– People have been taking to the streets, while others have refused awards as a show of protest.
– Go make babies, the government says politely.
– And speaking of babies: here’s the story of Stanislava Jakševičiūtė-Venclauskienė, known as the Mother of Šiauliai, who raised more than 120 orphans.
Written by Benas Gerdžiūnas
Edited by Justinas Šuliokas
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