THE VOICE OF INTERNATIONAL LITHUANIA
|
VilNews has its own Google archive! Type a word in the above search box to find any article.
You can also follow us on Facebook. We have two different pages. Click to open and join.
 Click on the buttons to open and read each of VilNews' 18 sub-sections  |
|
Opinions
I hope that more Lithuanians would take your very informed, friendly, and insightful message to heart!
- Posted by - (6) Comment
Your critical comments on, and wishes for, Lithuania in this issue are excellent. I agree with every word, and can only hope that more Lithuanians would take your very informed, friendly, and insightful message to heart!
Professor Mykolas J. Drunga, Broadcaster at Lithuanian State Radio
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Greetings from the French ambassador in Paraguay
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Ambassador Olivier Poupard was stationed at the French Embassy in Lithuania in the early 2000s.
After my stay in Lithuania, I have been reading with great interest your publication VilNews in Oslo then in Paris and now, since the beginning of October 2011, in Asuncion (Paraguay) where I am posted as ambassador.
Congratulations for the quality of your work.
Sincerely yours,
Olivier POUPARD
Embajador de Francia en Paraguay
ASUNCION
www.ambafrance-py.org
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Donatas Januta: Reply to Didier Bertin re Holocaust in Lithuania
Didier Bertin forgot to blame Lithuania for global warming
Donatas Januta
Didier Bertin forgot a fewthings in his list. Global warming, the Greek financial crisis, and the price of fish in Denmark, are just a few of the things that come to mind, for which he could equally blame Lithuania. But let’s look at what he included in his list.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Very well produced
- Posted by - (1) Comment
Thank you for sending me VILNEWS. It is very well produced, informative and a very good read for me as I wish to stay in touch with Lithuania life and business. I receive the daily Baltic News but it is inferior to VILNEWS as it is always biased towards Latvia and has many mistakes in the English. VILNEWS is much more professional and absorbing.
John Burrows, London
OBE HonRCM
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Good example to Lithuanian news media
- Posted by - (0) Comment
I think telling as you see it should be a good example to Lithuanian news media and political commentators. The Chronicle you wrote is excellent. You have done a great job and should be proud of it.
Jonas Kronkaitis, former Commander in Chief of Lithuania's Armed Forces
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
I can feel the warmth of VilNews!
Great! Congratulations! On this very cold day I can feel the warmth out of VilNews!
Justas Dvarionas, Vilnius
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
BY THE BOOK: Povilas Gylys isn’t worried by a Russia that tries to bend the rules, saying that the WTO needs to stick to its principles.
KLAIPEDA - While Lithuania was cozying itself up to Russia’s pending membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), Russia’s apparent other pursuit - establishing the Eurasian Union, which is said to be the brainchild of incumbent PM Vladimir Putin - has taken it aback, making high echelon politicians newly speculative about Russia’s true goals.
“The post-Soviet Eurasian Union is an alternative and contra-argument to the European Union. Furthermore, it is a hurdle for EU expansion to the East. If Russia succeeds, the Eurasian Union will be just another variety of the Soviet Union. I see Russia’s drive for WTO membership and establishment of the Eurasian Union as deliberately entwined. As far as the pro-Russia Eurasian’s possibilities to use WTO membership as a political weapon are concerned, I would rather withhold from expressing my opinion. Let the boss [it remains unclear whether Landsbergis referred here to Lithuanian President Grybauskaite] figure it out,” the patriarch of Lithuania’s modern history, Vytautas Landsbergis, said to The Baltic Times.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Keep the good work going. I’m impressed.
- Posted by - (6) Comment
Thanks for the newsletter. It has renewed my interest in Lithuania at a time when I am more involved in other countries. Keep the good work going. I'm impressed.
Keith C. Smith, Former US Ambassador to Lithuania, Washington DC - USA
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Donatas Januta: Reply to Olga Zabludoff re Holocaust in Lithuania
Litvaks:
Lithuania’s warriors
Donatas Januta
Dear Olga,
You and I disagree on a number of issues, including the contribution or non-contribution of Jews to Lithuania's economy. But please don't take that to mean that I am not willing to acknowledge real and important Jewish contributions to Lithuania. I wrote and published much of the following material in the Lithuanian language as an article in a Lithuanian newspaper a few years ago. As I send this off to VilNews, we are heading into Thanksgiving, and I wish you and your family a pleasant holiday. I will look forward to continuing our dialogue next week, including about our differences and about our common ground.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
We really needed something like this long ago
- Posted by - (2) Comment
Let me express my warmest greetings for such a wonderful job. I’m sure it will contribute a lot to creating a better image of Lithuania in the world. We really needed something like this long ago.
Kristina Lukošiūtė, Lithuanian Business Confederation | ICC Lithuania
Director of Corporate Affairs
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Didier Bertin: Reply to Yves Plasseraud re Holocaust in Lithuania
No more excuses for the policies and provocations of the Lithuanian authorities!
By Didier BERTIN
President of the Society for the Promotion of the European Human Rights Model
I want to thank my (French) compatriot, Yves Plasseraud for taking the time to reply to me. He also mentions in his reply that he had helped the organization of Lithuanian-Jewish events in the early 1990s, a most laudable achievement for which we are all in his debt. But being rooted in an earlier milieu can truly rob one of the perspectives needed to see when unwanted changes occur.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Donatas Januta: Reply to Olga Zabludoff re Holocaust in Lithuania
Embracing history between Lithuanians and Jews can’t be a one way street
Donatas Januta
Dear Olga,
You are very eloquent in stating your position. But even people of good will and good intentions can have honest differences of opinion, and sometimes are simply wrong. I am glad that you and I agree on the very basic matter of our debate, i.e., that the Holocaust was the worst genocide in European history, and that Jews and Lithuanians both suffered terribly during World War II and its aftermath.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Far away from home, we need a publication different from the mainstream news
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Congratulations with VilNews! Far away from home, we need a publication different from the mainstream news portals, which are often permeated with negative attitude and serving narrow, short-term interests. Your interest to history and the international dimension of Lithuania has made your previous publications a very engaging reading. I trust VilNews will remain enthusiastic, honest and insightful. Please rest assured that you have a dedicated reader in Africa.
Paulius Kulikauskas, Nairobi, Kenya
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
In the interwar period, the situation of the Jews in Lithuania
was one of the best in Eastern Europe
Dear Olga,
I find your discussion with Donatas very interesting. While I leave to Donatas to answer your other points, there is a couple of side issues that I do not completely agree with.
I find your Logic 101 and the discussion about the supply and demand not quite accurate. Let me explain why.
In the part of Russia that used to be Lithuania the resistance to Russification was very strong. So strong that the Tsarist authorities banned the written Lithuanian in 1864 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_press_ban) and exiled many local noble families to Siberia. Those families owned mills and controlled some of the trade - so that was lost. At the same time - the Lithuanian Jews had the so called "Golden age" - conditions for their trade improved, and as the local educated people were not allowed to return to their native country (e.g. the 'father' of modern Lithuanian nation J. Basanavicius was assigned to Bulgaria - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basanavicius), various additional business opportunities arose. It is no secret that Jews accepted Russian language and culture more readily than Lithuanians - and were better positioned to take advantage of the opportunities that were there in Imperial Russia. So for Logic 101 - could one say that some of the Jews took economic advantage of the circumstance by accepting the foreign (Russian) regime more readily? So for Logic 102 - where does that put them with respect to the local population - that was Catholic and rabidly anti-Russian?
In addition to this, I would like to give the following quote from soc.culture.baltics
"Even in the late 19th - early 20th century, when the Black Hundreds instigated and carried out pogroms throughout the Pale, the old Grand Duchy was far behind the Ukraine and Bessarabia in those, and I haven't ever read of any major pogroms on the territory of today's Rep. of Lithuania (if anyone knowns of one, please let us know). In the interwar period, the situation of the Jews in the Rep. of Lith. was one of the best in Eastern Europe. While probably not completely equal, they did not suffer such humiliating discrimination as, e.g., in Poland after Pilsudski's death (I have heard enough personal recollections of that from a relative of mine who lived in the 1930ies Wilno). There is little reason to talk about a "country with anti-Semitic tradition" in the case of Lithuania. That is, before WWII, when things abruptly changed. "
As for supply and demand - this applies to a free market. If you own the market - you are in position to set the demand. As simple as that, no?
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
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.
VilNews e-magazine is published in Vilnius, Lithuania. Editor-in-Chief: Mr. Aage Myhre. Inquires to the editors: editor@VilNews.com.
Code of Ethics: See Section 2 – about VilNews. VilNews is not responsible for content on external links/web pages.
HOW TO ADVERTISE IN VILNEWS.
All content is copyrighted © 2011. UAB ‘VilNews’.