THE VOICE OF INTERNATIONAL LITHUANIA
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Archive for March, 2012
Putin won, but Russians are growing tired of a political system that entrenches the privileges of an oligarchy of businessmen, bureaucrats and security men
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Illustration: http://vozni.wordpress.com
The Russian presidential campaign has hardly been short on drama: blood-curdling speeches, outbreaks of protest, the reported thwarting of an assassination plot. In the end, however, the result will be the same as could have been predicted months – or even years – ago. Vladimir Putin will return to the office he left in 2008, with the current president, Dmitri Medvedev, going back to his old job as prime minister.
On the face of it, then, this election means business as usual: Putin and his sidekick back in charge for another six years, and possibly 12.
Yet in fact, it represents something of a watershed for Russia. In the wake of those rigged elections, dissent is growing. Mr Putin has cast himself as the scourge of corruption, the man who tamed the gangsters. Yet Russians are growing tired of a political system that entrenches the privileges of an oligarchy of businessmen, bureaucrats and security men, and of an economy that depends on the fluctuating price of oil and gas rather than the skills and ideas of its workforce.
Mr Putin is still a popular figure, thanks largely to the cult of personality that surrounds him. Yet many of those voting for him yesterday were making a negative choice, rather than a positive one: they support him out of fear of a return to the chaos of the post-Soviet era, and in the absence (thanks to the Kremlin’s own strenuous efforts) of any credible alternative. With opponents of the regime growing increasingly vocal, we suspect he will find his next term in office a great deal more testing than the last.
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Norwegian Reitan Servicehandel (RSH) has acquired more than 1.000 kiosks from the Finnish media company Sanoma OY in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania. The purchase price is approx. 130 million Euros. As a result of the latest acquisition, Magnus Reitan will manage more than 2.500 stores with close to NOK 14 billion in revenue and 18.000 employees in seven countries.
- This acquisition makes us Europe's second largest convenience store operator, an achievement of which we are very proud. All of the chains have a leading position in their respective markets, and it is with great humility we are going to further develop these brands in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania, Reitan Servicehandel CEO Magnus Reitan says.
The revenue in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania is to a great extent based on traditional newsstand products such as tobacco, magazines and lottery, while Narvesen and Pressbyran to a larger degree have developed new and profitable product groups such as meals to go, drinks and electronic services.
Reitan Servicehandel (RSH) comprises Narvesen in Norway and Latvia, Pressbyran in Sweden, and 7-Eleven in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. RSH holds a leading position in all four countries. As of 31 December 2011 the number of shops was 1.489, and RSH had revenues of NOK 11.4 billion in 2011.
Reitan Servicehandel is a part of the Reitan Group (Reitangruppen). The Reitan Group consists of four areas of operation: REMA 1000, Reitan Servicehandel, Reitan Real Estate (Reitan Eiendom) and the Uno-X Group. In addition, Reitan Group owns the subsidiary Spaceworld and holds a share of 15,62 percent in Axfood. Reitan Group's vision is to become known as Scandinavia's most value driven company. In 2011, Reitan Group had revenue of NOK 63 billion (including franchise turnover) and employed 27.500 people in Scandinavia and Latvia, making it one of Norway's ten largest companies.
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11 March marks the restoration of
Lithuania's independence – how can the
authorities allow neo-Nazis to dominate
this important day for the nation?
 Lithuanians marching for freedom, 10 January 1990. Photo: Vitaly Armand/AFP/Getty Images |
 Neo-Nazis marching in Vilnius 11 March 2010. Photo: http://defendinghistory.com |
For the fifth time in the past five years a neo-Nazi parade (this year with a permit enabling a maximum of 2,000 participants) will march through the heart of Vilnius on 11 March, Independence Day, one of the proudest and most significant days for the people of Lithuania. The neo-Nazi theme will be “Homeland.”
Their display, if permitted by the government, will be taken by extremists throughout the region and Europe as a stamp of growing approval of neo-Nazi activities and a signal that the murder of about 95% of Lithuania’s Jewry during the Holocaust, largely by local collaborators, is taken lightly by today’s government.
Help us ban this blemish on a day reserved for the celebration of the internationally acclaimed bravery of the March 11th 1990 declaration of independence that was and continues to be a source of inspiration to all nations seeking freedom from oppression and foreign domination. Allow Lithuania a Day of Dignity.
Help combat racism and anti-Semitism with your signature to the following petition. You’ll find the petition text HERE.
11 March is not a day to
glorify the perpetrators
By Olga Zabludoff
When I learned that the municipality of Vilnius had again issued permits for a neo-Nazi march on Lithuania’s March 11th Independence Day, I was disturbed for more than one reason. Why would the government, which has been purporting its wish for reconciliation with its small Lithuanian Jewish community and Jews everywhere, sanction the resurrection of a Holocaust image? Why would the government, which has been purporting its wish to better its tarnished image with worldwide Jewry, accept and endorse the display of the LAF white armbands imprinted with the flaming swastika? Most survivors of the Lithuanian Holocaust are more traumatized by memories of the white-armbanded Lithuanian Activist Front than by memories of Hitler’s Aryan henchmen. It was the local LAF murderers who began to butcher Jews who had been their neighbors -- this even before their German Nazi masters/commanders came upon the scene. It was the LAF who unleashed the Holocaust in Lithuania. It was then that their slogan was born: “Lithuania for Lithuanians!” (Lietuva Lietuviams).
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It is possible to offer some counterweight
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By: Myra Sklarew
When I stood in Rotuses Square in Kaunas last September, I listened to a young man speak about the burden he had carried in his young life to know that his own grandfather had been one of the killers during the War, a member of the Lithuanian Activist Front and part of a mobile killing unit. The young man asked forgiveness.
And when I stood with a group of some fifty people next to the place of massacre of over 2000 Jewish people in Kedainiai—a place where twenty-nine of my own family members were murdered, I saw how Lithuanians were making the enormous passage across time and cultural divide to embrace a wrong that they had nothing to do with. I ask myself if I have done enough in my own country to right the wrongs committed by my forebears.
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Lithuania rescues 200 fisherman on ice floe
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Emergency crews in Lithuania rescued around 200 fishermen stranded on an ice floe in the Curonian Lagoon at Lithuania’s West Coast.
Two border patrol boats and a military helicopter were used in the operation Friday, and rescue coordinator Antanas Brencius said no one was injured.
Brencius says a crack in the ice in the Curonian Lagoon was widened by the northern winds, to the extent that the fishermen could not cross it and return to shore.
The freshwater lagoon is a popular fishing and holiday resort on the Baltic Sea.
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Two workers die at Mažeikių Nafta
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Two workers have died at the Mazeikiu Nafta oil refinery in Lithuania after a vacuum tank exploded.
Refinery spokesman Andrius Stasiulaitis says the blast had a limited scope and has not affected overall operations at the plant, which is owned by Poland's PKN Orlen and is the largest enterprise in Lithuania in terms of revenues and taxes paid.
Stasiulaitis said Friday that the explosion killed two workers ages 48 and 51, and that an investigation has been launched.
A major fire broke at the refinery in 2007, causing some €38 million in damages and a significant decline in output.
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Some fresh pictures from Kaziuko Muge 2012
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Warsaw is this week ‘decorated’ with photos of Norwegian neo-Nazi mass murderer
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Some Eastern Europe countries have seemingly not realized how dangerous it can be to provide neo-Nazis room for their 'presentations'.
We Norwegians had to bitterly experience how dangerous such mindsets can be, last summer when the neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik cold-bloodedly murdered 77 innocent people. We will earnestly suggest that the rest of Europe try to learn from what happened in Norway 22 July 2011, not allowing neo-Nazi marches, posters or other kinds of space for spreading the dangerous messages and history falsifications these people represent. Norway had to learn it the hard way...
Portrait of the Norwegian neo-Nazi mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik all over Warsaw these days.
Photo: www.vg.no
Throughout the Polish capital's bus stops are these days covered with meter-high portraits of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian neo-Nazi who brutally murdered 77 persons last summer.
The posters are made of one of the pictures Breivik used for the so-called manifesto he sent out after the terrorist attacks on 22 last July.
The portrait is in black and white and pixel led, but you can clearly see who the posters are representing.
According AP, a lot of of Norwegians who have been on holiday in the Polish capital, reacted to the massive posters with disbelief.
Read the article
(in Norwegian)...
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OPINIONS
Have your say. Send to:
editor@VilNews.com
Ph. D., Chicago
A wave of unity sweeps the international Lithuanian community on March 11th every year as Lithuanians celebrated the anniversary of the Lithuanian Parliament's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. However, the sense of national unity engendered by the celebration could be short-lived.
Human beings have a strong tendency to overgeneralize and succumb to stereotypical us-them distinctions that can shatter even the strongest bonds. We need only search the internet to find examples of divisive thinking at work:
- "Those who fled Lithuania during World II were cowards -- and now they come back, flaunt their wealth, and tell us 'true Lithuanians' how to live."
- "Lithuanians who work abroad have abandoned their homeland and should be deprived of their Lithuanian citizenship."
In Lithuania Christmas Eve is a family event and the New Year's Eve a great party with friends!
Lithuanian say "Kaip sutiksi naujus metus, taip juos ir praleisi" (the way you'll meet the new year is the way you will spend it). So everyone is trying to spend New Year's Eve with friend and have as much fun as possible.
Lithuanian New Year's traditions are very similar to those in other countries, and actually were similar since many years ago. Also, the traditional Lithuanian New Years Eve party was very similar to other big celebrations throughout the year.
The New Year's Eve table is quite similar to the Christmas Eve table, but without straws under the tablecloth, and now including meat dishes. A tradition that definitely hasn't changes is that everybody is trying not to fell asleep before midnight. It was said that if you oversleep the midnight point you will be lazy all the upcoming year. People were also trying to get up early on the first day of the new year, because waking up late also meant a very lazy and unfortunate year.
During the New Year celebration people were dancing, singing, playing games and doing magic to guess the future. People didn't drink much of alcohol, especially was that the case for women.
Here are some advices from elders:
- During the New Year, be very nice and listen to relatives - what you are during New Year Eve, you will be throughout the year.
- During to the New Year Eve, try not to fall, because if this happens, next year you will be unhappy.
- If in the start of the New Year, the first news are good - then the year will be successful. If not - the year will be problematic.
* If New Year's night is cold and starry - look forward to a good summer!
* If the during New Year Eve trees are covered with frost - then it will be a good year. If it is wet weather on New Year's Eve, one can expect a year where many will die and dangerous epidemics occur.
* If the first day of the new year is snowy - the upcoming year will see many young people die. If the night is snowy - mostly old people will die.
* If the New Year time is cold - then Easter will be warm.
* If during New Year there are a lot of birds in your homestead - then all year around there will be many guests and the year will be fun.
Christmas greetings
from Vilnius
and epic battle for the
future
Philosopher, political theorist, historian of
ideas, social analyst, and political
commentator
Ukraine was and continues to be perceived by the EU political class as a sort of grey zone with its immense potential and possibilities for the future, yet deeply embedded and trapped in No Man's Land with all of its troubled past, post-Soviet traumas, ambiguities, insecurities, corruption, social divisions, and despair. Why worry for what has yet to emerge as a new actor of world history in terms of nation-building, European identity, and deeper commitments to transparency and free market economy?
Right? Wrong. No matter how troubled Ukraine's economic and political reality could be, the country has already passed the point of no return. Even if Vladimir Putin retains his leverage of power to blackmail Ukraine and the West in terms of Ukraine's zero chances to accede to NATO due to the problems of territorial integrity, occupation and annexation of Crimea, and mayhem or a frozen conflict in the Donbas region, Ukraine will never return to Russia's zone of influence. It could be deprived of the chances to join NATO or the EU in the coming years or decades, yet there are no forces on earth to make present Ukraine part of the Eurasia project fostered by Putin.
want to learn about the
new, scary propaganda
war between Russia,
The West and the
Baltic States!
believe their government
is corrupt
students say no to
bribes for doctors
During Soviet times, government was administered for the people in control, not for the local population, court decisions were decreed, they were not the administration of justice, and academia was the domain of ideologues. 25 years of freedom and openness should have put those bad experiences behind Lithuania, but that is not so.
Today, it is a matter of expectation that court pronouncements will be governed by ideological dictates. Few, if any Lithuanians expect real justice to be effected. For foreign companies, doing business in Lithuania is almost impossible in a situation where business people do not expect rule of law, so, surely Government would be a refuge of competence?
Lithuanian Government has not emerged from Soviet styles. In an attempt to devolve power, Lithuania has created a myriad of fiefdoms of power, each speaking in the name of the Government, each its own centralized power base of ideology.
Chepstow, Wales
Doesn't that sound suspiciously like Lithuania? Ah, but I didn't mention the mountains of Snowdonia, which would give the game away.
I'm talking about Wales, that part of the UK which Lithuanians used to call "Valija", but later named "Velsas" (why?). Wales, the nation which has welcomed two Lithuanian heads of state to its shores - firstly Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, who has paid several visits and, more recently, President Dalia Grybauskaitė who attended the 2014 NATO summit which was held in Newport, South Wales.
ENGLISH VERSION OF THE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF VYTAUTAS LANDSBERGIS.
Although Lithuanian activities have thinned over the decades as that postwar generation died out, the Lithuanian Martyrs' parish hall is crowded with many, many hundreds of visitors who come to the Lithuanian cemetery for All Souls' Day. Similarly, the Franciscan parish has standing room only for Christmas Eve mass.
Although I am firmly embedded in the literary culture of Canada, my themes are usually Lithuanian, and I'll be in Kaunas and Vilnius in mid-November 2015 to give talks about the Lithuanian translations of my novels and short stories, which I write in English.
If you have the Lithuanian language, come by to one of the talks listed in the links below. And if you don't, you can read more about my work at
www.anatanassileika.com
http://www.vdu.lt/lt/rasytojas-antanas-sileika-pristatys-savo-kuryba/ https://leu.lt/lt/lf/lf_naujienos/kvieciame-i-rasytojo-59hc.html
"My love and best wishes to all. As long as VilNews exists, there is hope for the future,"" she writes.
Irena Veisaite means very much for our publication, and we do hereby thank her for the support and wise commitment she always shows.
You can read our interview with her
Facing a new reality
Dear readers of VilNews,
For a number of years, the EU and Russia had assumed the existence of a strategic partnership, based on the convergence of values, economic integration and increasingly open markets and a modernisation agenda for society.
Our agenda was positive and ambitious. We looked at Russia as a country ready to converge with "European values", a country likely to embrace both the basic principles of democratic government and a liberal concept of the world order. It was believed this would bring our relations to a new level, covering the whole spectrum of the EU's strategic relationship with Russia.
The likelihood of Putin
invading Lithuania
.jpg "lithuania today")
Founding Director at Summer Literary Seminars
Are all Lithuanian energy
problems now resolved?
Lithuania as a country does not have significant energy resources. Energy consuming infrastructure after WWII was small and totally supported by energy imports from Russia.
First nuclear reactor begins power generation at Ignalina in 1983, the second reactor in 1987. Iganlina generates enough electricity to cover Lithuania's needs and about 50%.for export. As, prerequisite for membership in EU, Ignalina ceases all nuclear power generation in 2009
The Klaipėda Sea terminal begins Russia's oil export operations in 1959 and imports in 1994.
Mazeikiu Nafta (current ORLEAN Lietuva) begins operation of oil refinery in 1980.
Have Lithuanian ties across
the Baltic Sea become
stronger in recent years?
The two decades that have passed since regaining Lithuania's independence can be described as a "building boom". From the wreckage of a captive Soviet republic, a generation of Lithuanians have built a modern European state, and are now helping construct a Nordic-Baltic community replete with institutions intended to promote political coordination and foster a trans-Baltic regional identity. Indeed, a "Nordic-Baltic community" - I will explain later in my text the meaning of this catch-phrase.
Since the restoration of Lithuania's independence 25 years ago, we have continuously felt a strong support from Nordic countries. Nordics in particular were among the countries supporting Lithuania's and Baltic States' striving towards independence. Take example of Iceland, country which recognized Lithuania in February of 1991, well in advance of other countries. Yet another example - Swedish Ambassador was the first ambassador accredited to Lithuania in 1991. The other countries followed suit. When we restored our statehood, Nordic Countries became champions in promoting Baltic integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. To large degree thanks Nordic Countries, massive transformations occurred in Lithuania since then, Lithuania became fully-fledged member of the EU and NATO, and we joined the Eurozone on 1 January 2015.
Have you heard about the
South African "Pencil Test"?
But that is exactly what happened to me when I came back from South Africa. I will tell you how.
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