Andrius Sytas

1 week ago | oafnation.com | Andrius Sytas

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — a U.S. Marine primes a claymore charge during a demolition exercise at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, October 8, 2024. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Juan Maldonado via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)By Andrius SytasVILNIUS - The Lithuanian parliament on Thursday voted in favour of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines amid concerns over the military threat posed by neighbouring Russia.

1 week ago | reuters.com | Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS, May 8 (Reuters) - The Lithuanian parliament on Thursday voted in favour of withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines amid concerns over the military threat posed by neighbouring Russia. All five European Union and NATO countries which border Russia – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland - have said they plan to exit the international treaty due to the military threat from their much larger neighbour. Sign up here.

1 week ago | reuters.com | Andrius Sytas

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico attends a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (not pictured), in Bratislava, Slovakia, April 28, 2025. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa VILNIUS, May 7 (Reuters) - Lithuania has closed its airspace to flights carrying the Slovak and Serbian leaders to Moscow for its World War Two victory parade, President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Andrius Sytas

By Andrius SytasTALLINN (Reuters) - The U.S. administration may want to focus less on protecting Europe, but a military presence is too valuable for securing NATO's flank and projecting influence for it to pull out entirely, Estonia's defence minister has said. Hanno Pevkur told Reuters on Monday the U.S. might reposition some troops to focus more on the Indo-Pacific, but said there had been no discussion within the Western NATO alliance about any reduction of U.S. forces in Europe.

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Andrius Sytas

By Andrius SytasTALLINN (Reuters) - Estonia has released the oil tanker Kiwala, which is on an EU sanctions list, having detained it for sailing without a valid country flag. The Estonian navy detained and boarded the Russia-bound tanker on April 11. It is suspected to be part of a so-called "shadow fleet" of usually older vessels used to carry crude oil and other cargoes to circumvent international sanctions.