Front page

OIL, GAS AND NOW POTENTIALLY 3 NEW

NUCLEAR PLANTS IN THE BALTIC AREA:

Ticking time bombs?

Text: Aage Myhre, Editor-in-Chief
aage.myhre@VilNews.com

It surprises me that the warning bells are not ringing much louder in Scandinavia and the rest of northern Europe, as I presume it now must be well known what is going on here in the Baltic region with regards to old as well as new energy installations, and potential disasters connected to them.

Oil, gas and polluting elements from World War II and later have long been known concern factors. Now the situation has become further worrying by the fact that Russia has built an underwater gas pipeline from St. Petersburg to Germany, and not least that it is planned no less than three (!) new nuclear power stations very close to the Baltic Sea's southern shore.

We all remember Chernobyl 25 years ago. We all remember the terrible disasters in Japan earlier this year, in a nation that claimed to have the world’s safest nuclear installations – a claim that showed yet again that nuclear plants will never be safe enough. They are always ticking time bombs.

For the whole time nuclear plants operate they emit radiation to their surroundings, often causing illness and genetic damage to humans, animals and nature. No nuclear installation, wherever it was, has ever been really safe.

I can hardly imagine living in Vilnius any more if that means I will have to live surrounded by three nuclear plants, just kilometres away. In particular, I would be extremely worried about my children and their descendants. Living in a neighbourhood of nuclear reactors is simply not a chance I can take.

Can Europe accept that three nuclear power stations are built right here, at its very ‘epicentre’?

Read more...

NOW IN CHICAGO!

National Lithuanian
American Hall of Fame

Bringing attention to Lithuania’s epic history and the global contributions of its people today in the arts, sciences, sports, politics, and economics.

Football greats Dick Butkus and Johnny Unitas, film director Robert Zemeckis, screen stars Charles Bronson, Ann Jillian, and Ruta Lee, musicians Benny Goodman and Bob Dylan, author J.D. Salinger, and Senator Dick Durbin are but a few famous individuals with roots in a nation that was once the largest and amongst the most powerful in Europe, Lithuania. Their achievements will now be commemorated by The National Lithuanian-American Hall of Fame (NLAHF).

Read more...

 
Autumn in Vilnius. Gediminas Tower, October 2011.
Photo: Aage Myhre.

And we in VilNews celebrate the autumn by introducing new Sections! Click the buttons 3 – 8 above and see for yourself.

Russia has ambitions
few in the west
are aware of

 
Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schröder.
Photo: Wikipedia.org.

Text: Aage Myhre
Editor-in-Chief
aage.myhre@vilnews.com

Professor Vytautas Landsbergis continuously warns his country and the world about the Russian threat. I think these warnings sometimes are a bit excessive, but I’m also afraid that Western Europe will continue acting and thinking with their blinders and ear flaps on. Yeltsin's Russia was perhaps more or less loose tooth, but Putin's Russia is definitely not! And Putin has ambitions. Big ambitions. I have learned this over my years in his front yard. It surprises me constantly to see how little Western leaders worry.

Putin has publicly stated that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was the most tragic has happened in Russia's history. It is an attitude not only Eastern Europe should be scared of. Western Europe and the rest of the world will also be greatly influenced if Putin gets what he wants.

Energy is the weapon. This applies not least to gas, which the rest of Europe is highly dependent on. The state-owned Russian gas company Gazprom is Putin's main tool in the efforts to achieve more and more control in Europe. It is often through this company that many spies and agents are paid.

Baltic states are particularly vulnerable. These relatively poor countries are already paying 50% more for gas received from Russia than Germany does. And every time they do something to achieve independence from Russian supplies of gas, oil or electricity, Putin is ready with the finger on the switch. Ready to turn off the power, once again to make a blow to the Baltic States. Unfortunately, he has more than enough power to threaten and trump through most of the restrictions.

I put big question marks at Germany's former chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, for his roles in his native country and for Europe. Schröder cultivated very close ties to Putin, even as Chancellor, ostensibly to strengthen the "strategic partnership" between Berlin and Moscow.

Together they planned the now realized gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea, exclusively between Russia and Germany. Only a few days before he resigned as Chancellor Schröder signed the agreement without consulting with his EU counterparts, and immediately after his retirement he joined the board of the German-Russian joint venture.

Read more...

Non-Jewish witnesses to
Holocaust in Lithuania?

Washington, D.C. – The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is looking for people to share their experiences of life in Lithuania during World War II and the Holocaust. Ina Navazelskis of the Museum’s Oral History Branch is particularly interested in speaking with non-Jewish Lithuanian witnesses to the Holocaust who now live in the U.S. or Canada.

“If you have a story to tell, or know somebody who does,” Navazelskis told VilNews, “I hope you’ll contact me. I want to hear your story and how it intersects with the Holocaust.”

Read more...

Reflections from Dainų Šventė

“Funk and dance,
not folk song, is our life,
our lifestyle”

Breakdancer executing a one-handed spin to the song Jump
Around by House of Pain in Kalnu Parkas, Vilnius,
on the opening night of Dainų Šventė, 2009

Text: Emily Šaras
Associate Editor

It was a misty and moist afternoon in the summer of 2009, a year that celebrated Vilnius, Lithuania as a European Capital of Culture.  Just as eager as I was sleep-deprived, I started my ethnomusicology research project that night by observing the opening Dainų Šventė event.  My particular strain of jet lag – the seven-hour difference between Vilnius and Boston – was still a haunting presence, leading me to wander zombie-like throughout the streets of Senamiestis that evening.  But even in my undead state, I was on a mission: like the hundreds of Lithuanians gathered in the city center, I had come to the opening night festivities of Dainų Šventė to hear my first taste of Lithuanian dainos (folk music) performed live.  A hedgehog in the fog, I sought musical truth to clear out my haze.

Read more...

Lithuania’s friends
and brothers

Soviet propaganda poster during the winter
war with Finland, 1939-1940.
From Wikipedia.org.

“Do you know how we Fins look upon the Russians as brothers or friends?” A Finnish friend of mine asked, and soon he revealed the answer: “We consider them our brothers, of course, because friends you can choose yourself.”

Lithuania of today is facing the problem Finland has had to deal with for many decades, and is now learning the art of keeping close ties to the West without irritating Russia too much. But Lithuania has got many more “friendship dimensions” to tackle; to keep up the mood towards the EU and to balance its relations between America and Western Europe.

Many would even say that it is questionable who are the real friends of Lithuania within Lithuania itself, or as a columnist recently wrote on this issue: “All these scandals and infights among politicians are no more than battles of personal interests which have very little if anything to do with interests of the nation.”

But first back to Russia, where a recent poll gives quite interesting information on how ordinary Russians view the relations with other countries. According to the poll, Russia's best friends are Belarus (47 percent), Kazakhstan (33 percent), China (24 percent), Germany (22 percent) and India (15 percent).

Russia's main foes are Latvia (46 percent), Georgia (44 percent), Lithuania (42 percent), the United States (37 percent), Estonia (28 per cent) and Ukraine (27 percent).

Lithuania is, in other words, considered one of Russia‘s top foes.

Read more...

First and second round of Lithuanian Litas

Front and back of 1922, 50 Centai banknote.

Front and back of 1929, 5 Litai banknote.

Front and back of 1922, 100 Litai banknote.

Photos courtesy of Colnect.

Auksinas
to Russian Ruble
to Ostmark and Ostruble
to Litas
to Soviet Ruble
to Litas

– the first and second introduction of the Lithuanian Litas

The official currency of the Republic of Lithuania is the Litas. Twice it has been the official currency. The first period was during the inter-war years when Lithuania regained its independence from Imperial Russia and the second period began in 1993, after Lithuania regained its independence from Soviet Russia, and is still the official currency. We would like to share with you some interesting information about what was involved in the creation of the Litas and its reintroduction.

Read more...

VilNews had 100.000 visits in 6 months!

VilNews has been online for a little over six months now. When we started, our goal was to reach 100 000 visits in ONE year. Experts thought we were kidding. The fact is that we reached the target in just six months! 

Thanks to you, dear readers!

Among the things we're going to focus on this autumn and winter, is to tell you more about this nation's relations with other countries around the world. For better or worse. Open, forthright talks will still be our standards.

Please write us with your ideas and comments!

The illustrations below show some characteristics of the nations we will cover, things that make them known here, presented in Lithuania’s flag colours.

ARTICLE NO. 1 HUNGARY	ARTICLE NO. 2: ITALY		ARTICLE NO. 3: KARAIMS
ARTICLE NO. 4: DENMARK	ARTICLE NO. 5: JAPAN		ARTICLE NO. 6: CANADA
ARTICLE NO. 7: GERMANY	ARTICLE NO. 8: CHINA		ARTICLE NO. 9: INDIA
ARTICLE NO. 10: SWEDEN	ARTICLE NO. 11: TATARS		ARTICLE NO. 12: USA
ARTICLE NO. 13: RUSSIA	ARTICLE NO. 14: BELARUS		ARTICLE NO. 15: ICELAND
ARTICLE NO. 16: TURKEY	ARTICLE NO. 17: FINLAND		ARTICLE NO. 18: THE UK
ARTICLE NO. 19: NORWAY	ARTICLE NO. 20: POLAND		ARTICLE NO. 21: FRANCE
		ARTICLE NO. 22: THE LITVAKS (LITHUANIAN JEWS)

Lithuania has an amazing 700-year history as an international melting pot. This has been especially evident since 1323, the year Grand Duke Gediminas founded Vilnius as Lithuania’s capital city and immediately decided to invite merchants, craftsmen, bankers, farmers, and soldiers from all Europe to come to the new capital, guaranteeing all freedom of beliefs and good working conditions. Vilnius became international, though with less of German or Scandinavian influence, as one could expect, rather influenced by Italy and Mediterranean ideas – greatly different from the other two Baltic capitals where Hanseatic influence became dominant.
VilNews will over some time this autumn publish articles about impacts of foreign nations and cultures here. We also welcome you, dear readers, to share with us information you may have about ‘foreign footprints in Lithuania’.

CLICK HERE TO READ ON WHITE BACKGROUND…

 
Photo: Wikipedia.org.

By KR Slade

The hill behind the castle tower in the Old Town of the city of Vilnius--the capital of Lithuania, is called ‘The Hill of Three Crosses’. So, how many crosses are on the Hill of Three Crosses ? Six ! Or nine, if you count shadows . . .

In the 14th century, according to legend, pagans killed seven Franciscan monks on this hill. Three monks were hung on the hill, and four were thrown in the river. Three wooden crosses were erected on this hilltop in the 17th century. Thus, the hill got its name.

In 1916, before the first Republic of Lithuania (1918-1939), the wooden crosses were replaced with an ensemble of three, more monumental, reinforced-concrete crosses. They were hollow, about two feet square and about three inches thick. The cross-arms span about eight feet; the height is about eighteen feet. The three-dimensional relief faces reflect light and shadow.

In 1950, the Soviets blew-up and buried the three concrete crosses, which are now placed on the ground just below the final summit climb of the hill. The old, raw concrete crosses are in-tact, but broken at their bases that expose their steel reinforcement rods . The twisted steel rods evidence an amount of force used in their attempted ruin. Amazingly, they were not completely destroyed. They remain now triumphant, on the ground, the paint long-since worn away by weather, neatly displayed on a grassy presentation, about fifty feet from the summit. The three recumbent crosses, still working in their retirement, make a resurrected statement of faith.

The newer three crosses, which since 1989 crown the hilltop vista, were constructed according to the previous general plans. But, there are visible differences in the frontal surfaces of the older and newer structures. In 1991, Soviets here became extinct.

I had mentioned to a local friend that I wanted to go to the Hill of the Three Crosses. He replied, “Why? It’s a hill. With three crosses. You can see the crosses from everywhere in the city.”

No. The Hill of Three Crosses has six crosses. Yes, you can see the three crosses from everywhere in the Old Town. But it’s the other three crosses--the one’s resting on the ground--the old retired ones, which vividly tell the whole story.

Read more...