Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – Vilnius City Municipality on Friday signed a EUR 4 million contract with Zaha Hadid Architects to redesign the city’s railway and bus stations, a mayor said.

Construction could begin in 2027, with the revamped transport hub expected to open to the public by late 2029, according to Mayor Valdas Benkunskas.

The London-based firm will prepare full design proposals, obtain permits and oversee construction. Plans include a new public transport terminal, renovated station square and a 2,000-space underground parking lot that will also serve as a civil shelter.

LTG Infra and Vilnius City announced the design competition for both railway and bus stations back in 2021. It was won by the world-renowned architectural firm Zaha Hadid Architects that proposed the Green Connect concept, a modern multifunctional centre with new public spaces.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – The Liberal Movement has re-elected its current leader Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen for a fourth term as the five-day vote closed on Friday.

Čmilytė-Nielsen was backed by 86.51% of the party members who cast their votes. Her nearest rival was Plungė District Mayor Audrius Klišonis, head of the Local Authorities in Lithuania, with 13.49% of support.

A total of 65.69% of eligible Liberal Movement members took part in the election, the party.

“Now it is important to be liberal, to defend liberal values, to be a counterweight to political clowns and loudmouths. We need to restore respect for people and facts in politics,” Čmilytė-Nielsen is cited as saying in the party’s press release.

“Together with like-minded people, we will strengthen liberal values and strive to ensure that the Liberal Movement remains the strongest, most reliable, modern, and responsible liberal political force. The future is liberal!” she said.

The re-elected leader will be confirmed at the party’s congress on 20 September.

The Liberal Movement’s chairperson is elected for a two-year term.

Čmilytė-Nielsen has led the Liberal Movement since 2019.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator Litgrid, a subsidiary of the EPSO-G, new energy group, has opened a public recruitment process for the role of Chief Executive Officer as the current CEO’s five-year term draws to a close.

Applications will be accepted until 27 October, the operator told the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday.  

Eligible candidates must have held a management role for the past five years in a company with at least 250 employees and have experience in overseeing infrastructure, business transformation or other strategic projects, the statement said.

The tenure of Rokas Masiulis, CEO of the transmission system operator Litgrid, will conclude on 22 February 2026.

Under the legislation, the heads of state-owned enterprises may serve up to two terms. Mr Masiulis is currently in his first term of office.

Once candidate assessment has been completed, in accordance with the Law on the Protection of Objects Important to National Security and the Law on Corruption Prevention, the Litgrid Board will confirm the appointment of the new CEO from among the shortlisted candidates.

EPSO-G group has six directly owned subsidiaries – Amber Grid, Baltpool, Energy cells, EPSO-G Invest, Litgrid and Tetas. The rights and obligations of the sole shareholder of EPSO-G are exercised by the Ministry of Energy of Lithuania.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – The Lithuania-based Belarusian opposition leader, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, says she is happy about yesterday’s release of 52 political prisoners but the process reminded her of a forced deportation.

“We are happy to see people free, but let us be honest. What happened yesterday was not true freedom – it was forced deportation,” she told a press conference in Vilnius on Friday.

“We are very concerned about the fate of Mikolai Statkevich, who refused to leave Belarus, which was his right. His whereabouts are now unknown,” Tsikhanouskaya stressed.

The leader of the Belarusian democratic forces also urged the Minsk regime to release all the remaining victims of repression.

“All 1,300 political prisoners must be released,” she said.

The opposition’s task now is to support the released political prisoners, provide them with medical and psychological assistance and take care of the necessary documents, Tsikhanouskaya said.

“Yesterday alone, we raised EUR 85,000 to support political prisoners,” she added.

The Belarusian opposition leader said efforts would continue with the United States and European Union partners to secure the further release of prisoners.

In her address to the freed prisoners and media representatives, Tsikhanouskaya expressed her gratitude to US President Donald Trump, Lithuania and international human rights organisations for their contribution to the operation.

The Minsk regime on Thursday released 52 political prisoners, including six Lithuanians, President Gitanas Nausėda had announced.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – NATO’s decision to strengthen its eastern flank will help deter reckless actions by the Kremlin, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said Friday, following an announcement by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

“Every inch of Allied territory is protected – on land, at sea and in the air,” Nausėda said on X on Friday.

“NATO’s new vigilance activity Eastern Sentry boosts our air defence and shields the Eastern flank from the Kremlin’s reckless actions,” he stated.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Friday that the alliance would reinforce the defence of its eastern flank following the intrusion of Russian drones in Polish airspace this week, AFP reported.

The announcement follows the Alliance’s first interception of Russian drones over allied airspace since the war in Ukraine began three and a half years ago.

“NATO is launching Eastern Sentry to bolster our posture even further along our eastern flank,” Rutte told a joint news conference with NATO’s top commander in Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, according to a report by AFP.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – A fire that raged for more than three days at a gas filling station on Baltosios Vokės Street in Vilnius has been brought under control, thes Fire and Rescue Department said Friday.

“Localisation was announced at 6:05 p.m.,” a PAGD spokesman on site, Donatas Gurevičius, told ELTA news agency. “We declared the fire localised because the reservoir has been sealed.”

While the fire is now contained, authorities have yet to declare it fully extinguished. According to Gurevičius, the 350-metre danger zone must first be reduced or eliminated, and crews must confirm there are no gas leaks from nearby tanks.

“We will patrol the area, take measurements with gas analysers, and use a drone to check from above for possible leaks,” he said.

Firefighters will begin gradually withdrawing from the site once the fire is officially declared extinguished, but no timeline has been given.

“I cannot predict when that will happen — it depends on what we find in the pipes,” Gurevičius added.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – The Bank of Lithuania, Lietuvos bankas, has published the balance of payments for July 2025, which shows that, compared to June, the current account balance (CAB) turned from surplus (EUR 475.9 million) to deficit and totalled EUR 120.9 million. 

The CAB deficit was mainly determined by a substantial increase in deficits of foreign trade and primary income balances, the central bank said in a statement on Friday.

Following a decline in exports of goods (1.8%) and a massive rise in imports of goods (14.2%), the foreign trade deficit considerably widened (by a factor of 2.4) and amounted to EUR 887.4 million. The primary income deficit grew 1.9 times to EUR 190.3 million. With a slight fall in exports of services (0.2%) and an increase in imports of services (3.6%), the surplus balance of services declined by 4.4%, amounting to EUR 865.8 million. The surplus on the secondary income balance grew from EUR 34.9 million to EUR 91.0 million.

The negative net flow of financial account investment (EUR 419.1 million) was mainly driven by the negative net flows of direct investment (EUR 278.6 million) and other investment (EUR 125.4 million).

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – A blaze at a gas filling station in Baltosios Vokės Street was put out on late Friday afternoon, the Fire and Rescue Department (PAGD) has said.

Firefighters have indicated they are currently cooling the tank and moving forward to contain the fire.

“We have managed to extinguish the blaze of the only burning tank, and the tank will be cooled for about half an hour. Next, the tank valves will be sealed. This is a very significant step towards containing the fire, but we are not announcing it yet,” PAGD spokesman Donatas Gurevičius told ELTA.

At a press conference held at the scene, firefighters said gas was still leaking in three places, which made it impossible to announce that the fire had been contained. 

Emergency services were informed about 8 tank wagons with gas on fire on Wednesday morning, 10 September.

The incident happened at the liquefied gas filling station of the company Jozita, a service station chain operator.

Four tank wagons exploded sending fiery mushrooms in the sky. Later, gas reservoirs located at the facility ignited as well.

Vilnius City Municipality declared a local emergency. One person, a company employee, was hurt in the incident, although initially there were conflicting reports about two injured people.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – Deputy-Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigitas Mitkus on Thursday met with the two incoming ambassadors of France and Austria, the ministry said in a press release.

The meeting with French Ambassador Lucie Stepanyan focused on key issues of Lithuanian-French cooperation in the areas of defence, economy, culture, science and international development cooperation, with a view to further strengthening the strategic partnership. 

“It is especially important for us to cooperate closely in the field of defence and security. Lithuania is consistently investing in its defence, and at the same time we invite French defence companies to come to Lithuania – to invest and establish themselves here under attractive conditions,” the deputy minister emphasised.

Mitkus drew attention to Lithuania’s participation in the European Union’s research and innovation programme Horizon Europe, which provides opportunities to strengthen cooperation between Lithuanian and French scientific institutions and scientists through joint projects in the field of innovation. 

“We seek to cooperate in the areas of strengthening democracy, societal resilience to disinformation, and historical memory. We also seek to actively contribute to the EU’s Global Gateway initiative and implement joint development cooperation projects with France,” the deputy foreign minister said.

When speaking about Ukraine, he highlighted the special relationship between Lithuania and Ukraine at all levels, from institutional to interpersonal contacts. 

“We must further increase our effort to help Ukraine and strive for a just and lasting peace. We thank France for its initiatives, including the Coalition of the Willing, in which Lithuania is actively participating,” Mitkus said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mitkus also met with the newly appointed Ambassador of Austria to Lithuania, Dr Johannes Aigner, who resides in Vienna.

During the meeting, they discussed topics such as bilateral cooperation, the security situation in the region, support for Ukraine, Lithuania’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU, and prospects for cooperation in the fields of economy and science.

The deputy foreign minister underlined the importance of continued support for Ukraine and invited Austria to join Lithuania in implementing joint projects to support Ukraine.

Mitkus emphasised that Lithuania considered Austria an important partner in seeking a common response to today’s most pressing challenges and in shaping the European agenda. The deputy foreign minister stated that we must strengthen cooperation, especially in innovative and high-tech sectors, both at the bilateral level and through participation in international projects.

Mitkus drew attention to the good prospects for cooperation between the two countries in the European Horizon program. Diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Austria were established in 1924.

Austrian Ambassador Dr Johannes Aigner and French Ambassador Lucie Stepanyan presented their credentials to the President of the Republic of Lithuania on 11 September 2025.

Vilnius, September 12 (ELTA) – Low-cost airline Wizz Air will significantly expand its operations in Lithuania from November 2025 through the summer of 2026, adding seven new destinations and basing an additional aircraft at Vilnius Airport, a company executive said. 

The new destinations from Vilnius will include Krakow, Nice, Podgorica, Tallinn, Tirana and Turku, with an additional route to Oslo from Palanga Airport, Wizz Air’s commercial officer for Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, Andras Szabo, told a press conference on Friday. The airline plans to launch its first new route, from Vilnius to Krakow, as early as 27 October, with four weekly flights.

The expansion will intensify in December, with a third aircraft to be stationed at Vilnius Airport starting that month. On 12 December, daily flights to Tallinn will begin, alongside three weekly flights to both Nice and Turku. While Turku flights will shift to a summer schedule of three different weekly days, service to Nice will decrease to twice weekly in the summer of 2026.

Flights to Tirana are scheduled to begin on 31 March, operating three times a week, while Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, will be added to the route map on 7 June. From Palanga Airport, Wizz Air will launch flights to Oslo on 10 December, operating twice a week in winter and three times weekly in summer.

Ticket prices for the new routes vary significantly, with the lowest fares starting at EUR 15 for Turku and Tallinn, while flights to Nice, France will begin at EUR 40. 

The expansion underlines Wizz Air’s continued commitment to the Lithuanian market, where it will now operate from all three international airports, the CEO of Lithuanian Airports (LTOU) said.

“Some of those markets are completely new to us. We will have a connection to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro,” Simonas Bartkus said. “Wizz Air will now be the third airline flying from Vilnius, Kaunas, and Palanga.”

“With nearly 100 routes, we are actively seeking new and unique destinations that will strengthen our country’s connectivity,” the CEO of LTOU added.