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
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Lithuanian relations
The tension will continue, until Poland will treat Lithuania again as a sovereign and independent country
Read post & comments
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
I had thought the “Polish problem” did not exist anymore. I was obviously wrong
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Peter Modeen
Very good and interesting article. I had thought the "Polish problem" did not exist anymore. I was obviously wrong. Seems the demands of the politicians of the Polish minority's are very unjustified, and the Polish government's accusations ridiculous, neither of them being in the real interest of the Polish minority in Lithuania. It would be interesting to know how Poland it treating its ethnic minorities!
Kind regards,
Peter Modeen
Finland/Spain
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
If Poles remain committed to a “greater Poland” then they have the freedom to re-settle in Poland
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Tony Mazeika
This is an outstanding objective historical review by Gureckas. It would appear that current position of the small but radical Polish minority is untenable as it is dangerous to the youth attending Polish language only schools. We have the same parallel here in California where significant numbers of Mexican immigrants (legal & illegal) condemn themselves to unsuccessful economic futures for failure to embrace the English language. The fact Lithuania offers full educational opportunities in the Lithuanian language ( second languages for advancement include English, German, Russian) indicates the nation's commitment to its nation's future. If Poles remain committed to a "greater Poland" then they have the freedom to re-settle in Poland. I agree with the author that official Polish foreign policy cannot afford to rattle the cage on formalized boundaries as Germany could use that opportunity to rev-visit the Polish annexation of German territories in 1945. The Commonwealth cannot be recreated. It is nothing more than an illusion. Poland needs Lithuania as a NATO partner/ally and a strong buffer against Russian political adventures.
Tony Mazeika,
California
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
I love Lithuanian girls!
Giedrė Jotautaitė
By Aage Myhre, Editor in Chief
I wrote a tribute to Lithuanian girls here in VilNews a couple of days ago. My post was occasioned by the fact that I had been on a ferry from Stockholm to Riga and observed that Swedish girls in recent years have become overweight and not nearly as healthy and beautiful as their mothers and grandmothers were. I noted that Lithuanian girls have not undergone such a negative transformation, and that I find them to be among the most beautiful in our world.
The post has resulted in some negative reactions, in part of mocking character. I maintain, however, my homage and my admiration. I have been married to a beautiful Lithuanian woman for more than 20 years, and we now have two girls, respectively 9 and 14 years. I have over the years seen how my wife strives to keep her body in good shape, and how she has transferred this to our two children. They both dance ballet three times a week, they do not eat junk food, they do not drink coca cola. My wife is approaching 50, but still looks like a youth. Our children are healthy pioneering examples of Lithuanian beauty.
Giedre Jotautaitė, who kindly has allowed me to use photos of her to illustrate the post, is a hardworking university student who also works hard to finance her studies and to save money to buy an apartment and move back to Lithuania from Italy where she now lives. From time to time she also conducts modeling jobs. One more good example of this that Lithuanian girls deserve praise and admiration for what they represent with respect to well-kept body, mind, intellect and carrier efforts.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Is there a future
for VilNews?
By Aage Myhre, VilNews Editor-in-Chief
aage.myhre@VilNews.com
It seems, unfortunately, that we may have to stop publishing VilNews later this summer due to lack of economic support and advertising from Lithuanian State, businesses and organizations, this despite the tremendous success we have had when it comes to worldwide readership and general interest.
Ideas and suggestions from you, dear readers who wouldn’t like to see this happen, would be very much appreciated.
When we went online with VilNews 16 months ago, the internet experts predicted that a ‘niche product’ like ours would probably attract no more than 10-15,000 readers per year. Today this is the number of readers we have per week (!), and we have till now welcomed close to 400,000 visitors from 181 countries; a tremendous success both with regards to readership and the great response we have had from Lithuanians and others from literally every corner of the globe. As far as I know, we are now the largest online publication from and about Lithuania in the world…
I have been told that we have more readers than all Lithuanian tourist brochures and presentations altogether.
I have been told that we have been doing more to connect global Lithuanians than all governmental institutions together…
Read the complete article HERE,
and see comments below:
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (1) Comment
This attitude from the State institutions is of course shame. Whereas I am not privy to how the State currently dishes out its support to publications, we keep hearing of more millions being allocated to yet another effort Lithuania's image-building. So far, all these millions have resulted in, err, very little?
I suggest that we, readers of VilNews around the world sign a petition to whichever Government foundation to support this publication, and that we send donations (anonymous, please) to support it. Dear Aage, what is the account no.?
With cordial regards from Nairobi, Kenya (currently in Cairo, Egypt)
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
A worldwide letter writing campaign might work. Usually, politicians who wish to be re-elected listen to their constituents
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Jon Platakis
A worldwide letter writing campaign might work. Usually, politicians who wish to be re-elected listen to their constituents. Not so sure if that is the case in Lithuania. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Aage, give us an address or an email of the person or department where sending communications would be most effective.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Perhaps there would be people who would like to contribute directly – something similar to what is done by Wikipedia
- Posted by - (0) Comment
See (http://donate.wikimedia.org)
Tautietis
I like Paulius' idea. How about a world-wide fund raiser? Government might help, but perhaps there would be people who would like to contribute directly - something similar to what is done by Wikipedia (http://donate.wikimedia.org)
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
The impact that your publications has on the Litvaks is outstanding. Your 400.000 outreach could be the key in November
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Algis Zaparackas·
The impact that your publications has on the Litvaks is outstanding. Your 400.000 outreach could be the key in November
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
VilNews SECTION 11:
Healing wounds between LT-Americans and homeland Lithuania…
The relationship between Lithuania’s diaspora groups in the U.S. and the home country Lithuania is not always the best. Many here in Lithuania still believe that those who left, whether for economic or political reasons, had very comfortable lives compared to those who stayed behind and had to fight through several decades of inhuman oppression and abuse by the Soviet occupiers.
Many Lithuanians in the United States believe in turn that the mother country does not welcome them to return or collaborate on improving the development of the nation called Lithuania, and have been critical about ongoing corruption, that rule of law is still not working effectively, etc.
VilNews did through much of April and May focus on this topic, and we do hereby, now as the series is over, invite all of you having views on this topic to prepare responses or information you think might shed light or be beneficial to the relationship. The goal is to build bridges and contribute to reconciliation!
To read more, go to our
SECTION 11
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
How can Lithuania break out of the vicious circle?
Our article “Message to all U.S.-Lithuanians: Come home, your country needs you!”, has resulted in many reactions. Read the article HERE, and see some of the comments below.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Viktorija Ruškulienė,
New Jersey, USA
I live with hope, that there will be a day, when I'll return home to Lithuania to stay there forever, and I still will be welcomed by some remaining friends and family.
Viktorija Ruškulienė
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Evaldas Zvinys I believe this is a self-reinforcing circle. The more one talks about the same thing, the more he or she believes in it - and eventually starts acting accordingly. The problem is that the media does not help - oftentimes it is too negative - it focuses too much on the bad and ignores the good. And there definitely are good things - a lot of them. The question is - how to break out of this circle?
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Nobody needs us there. It is being proven to us every time one of us attempts to come back and be a normal human being
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Meecolas Goudialis Nobody needs us there. It is being proven to us every time one of us attempts to come back and be a normal human being....It is impossible....
And you can have as many concerts as you want, as many "kulturos sostines" as you want, as many 3 milijonai, Lithuanians come back, Pasaulio Lietuviai, Misija Sibiras projects....it DOES NOT MATTER!!! Unless LT is able to grasp the very heart of the problem. This country is dying....amids all its glory of the "Baltic Tiger", legends of economic stability, best lasers, fastest internet in the world, and all other pr crap....It was sad to see the country enslaved for 50 years, but it is outright shocking to see its soul torn apart in 20!!!!!!!!!!
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
Bernard Terway You must have had a really bad experience there. I was only there for a short time, so that may be why I enjoyed it so much and would love to go back for an extended period.
Drink a lot of medaus alus when in
Vilnius and Kaunas. It is amazing what a few drinks will do for your mental vision :-) Just being facetious there, but one must look for the good and, if one does, he/she will find it.
- Bookmark :
- Digg
- del.icio.us
- Stumbleupon
- Redit it
It is like a cancer
- Posted by - (0) Comment
Vyto Be It is like a cancer. You can still enjoy life, but it's always there. Sometimes cancer can even be cured...
- 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’.