LRT English Newsletter – October 9, 2026
You know you live in a small country when an offhand remark by the US president makes front-page news. Donald Trump has been asked about setting up a military base in Lithuania, to which he responded with a non-comital “we’ll look at it”, setting off a week-worth of discourse about what it means and how Vilnius should exploit the moment.
At issue, of course, is Lithuania’s long-term goal of involving the US as much as possible in its own security, even as the Americans are signalling intentions to cut presence in Europe. That requires being exemplary allies, sometimes leading to comical situations. For example, Vilnius was hosting an international conference on disinformation this week that included a panel about how Washington, too, is engaging in “information manipulation and interference”. The incensed State Department conveyed its dissatisfaction to several allies sponsoring the event, according to Politico, and Lithuania’s foreign ministry obligingly withdrew its logos from the conference materials. How dare anyone suggest disinformation is done by our allies, not just our enemies, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys commented.
Lithuania also took a more serious step to engage American forces. This week, the Seimas held the first of two votes on crossing out an article from the constitution that prohibits weapons of mass destruction (and foreign bases) on Lithuanian soil. The initiative, prompted by vague suggestions that the US might move its nuclear warheads from Germany further east – faces virtually no opposition, save for a few MPs that would prefer a decision by referendum.
The talk of US bases and nuclear weapons, understandably, drew reactions from Moscow – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it “a step toward escalation”.
LESS IS MORE
The government is beginning work on its most important piece of legislation, next year’s budget bill. How generously will Vilnius spend on defence (and tangentially related things) and will it stay in the “5% club”? Under preliminary proposals, Lithuania’s military budget should increase by 36 million euros next year, although it will represent a slightly smaller share of the GDP (still above 5%) than this year – something that will surely upset defence hawks.
There are indications, however, that Lithuania may not be able to sustain that much military spending for long. Preliminary calculations indicate that it will – for the first time in a long time – substantially exceed the 3-percent deficit limit imposed by eurozone rules. Raising taxes being a strong taboo (some creative exceptions notwithstanding), the social democrat-led government may see prodigious military spending clash with its other priorities.
KALININGRAD BORDER
Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas has announced that the military will be helping to guard Lithuania’s western border with Kaliningrad. You may recall that it was the eastern border with Belarus that has been seeing all the action, while the Kaliningrad side has been relatively calm. As Katelynas explained, the move is being made in anticipation of a mobilisation in Russia that could send some military-age men to seek asylum in Lithuania.
There have also been discussions about the “Kaliningrad transit” – the special arrangement allowing Russians to travel between the exclave and mainland Russia. The Seimas considered a proposal to cut the allowed transit time from 24 to six hours, eventually rejecting it. Katelynas now says he wants to monitor the transiting Russians so that they don’t stray from pre-approved routes.
There have also been calls to completely close the Russian border over a reported incident of pneumonic plague in Siberia. The authorities say, however, that the risk of the disease spreading to Lithuania is low.
NATIONAL ROW OVER MIGRATION
Last Saturday, two opposing rallies were held in Vilnius – separated only by a street and a line of policemen – one calling for stopping immigration, the other one censuring racism and xenophobia purportedly spread by the migration opponents.
While both rallies were far from massive – attended by hundreds rather than thousands – migration is proving to be a salient issue. Vytautas Sinica, the nationalist MP who organised one of the rallies, is now polling third in next year’s race for the mayorship of Vilnius.
The current government, while overall not vehemently anti-migration, is declaring intentions to cut annual migrant worker quotas. Meanwhile, business reps have organised a media event to present their warnings of the economic perils that a crackdown on migration might cause. While no one disputes that Lithuania is facing acute labour shortages, politicians still talk about enticing Lithuanians to return as their preferred solution.
EDITOR’S PICKS
– If you go to Bari, look out for this new portrait of a sixteenth-century Polish-Lithuanian queen.
– Did you know that Lithuania experiences natural earthquakes? It took some time to prove they do occur.
– Should we stop turning clocks twice a year? And if so, should we keep the summer or the winter time?
– A massive marine painting looted by the Nazis is back in Klaipėda. Well, kind of back.
– A new way to observe Kaunas.
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