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Lithuanian report
by Euro Reporter
2012-08-24 08:47:14 |
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Lithuania's PM supports Australian-like cigarette packet branding
Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius would support strict cigarette packet branding with graphic health warnings – pictures of smoking-related illnesses, even though he himself has not seen any packet like that yet.
"I have not seen the design of the Australian packets. Yet, I see no limits for looking for new ways to encourage people to quit this damaging habit. I myself twice gave up smoking and the second try was successful. Therefore, I would not be against something as was suggested and implemented by the Australians," he said Thursday morning on the radio Ziniu Radija.
In Australia, cigarettes and tobacco products must be sold in plain olive green packets without special colourful branding. Instead, packages must display graphic health warnings including pictures of mouth cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.
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Lithuania to finish investigation into border incident by late September
The committee on national security and defence of the Lithuanian Seimas discussed the border incident involving Swedish aircraft together with representatives of the State Border Service, the State Security Department and other agencies and recognized it as a violation but took no action.
According to the committee head Arvydas Anusauskas, the investigation of the incident by law enforcement agencies of Lithuania will be completed by the end of September. The law enforcement agencies of Lithuania will apparently have to seek assistance from Sweden. The head of the committee acknowledged that the Swedish aircraft flew to Belarus from Lithuania having no rights to cross the border. The Lithuanian authorities followed the laws of Lithuania, in which, according to him, there are some loopholes. Arvydas Anusauskas expressed the hope that now these agencies will look into these loopholes and correct them.
Arvydas Anusauskas said earlier that the violation of the Lithuanian-Belarusian border by Swedish pilots on 4 July occurred due to a mistake by the Estonian shift who were on duty at the Baltic Airspace Surveillance and Control Centre in Karmelava and whom Lithuania cannot bring to responsibility. The Armed Forces of Lithuania responded with a statement saying that the military staff of the centre is not divided on an ethnical basis. The Baltic Airspace Surveillance and Control Centre is part of the NATO’s air defence system.
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Lithuania blames Estonians for "teddy bear landing" in Belarus
The Swedish plane that dropped teddy bears with slogans supporting freedom of speech attacked to them over the territory of Belarus in July violated the Lithuanian border because of Estonians, Arvydas Anusauskas, chairman of the Lithuanian parliament committee on security and defence, said. One small mistake decides a lot of things. In my view, a mistake was made because planes on radar screens and their speed are determined technically," Anusauskas said in an interview with the Lithuanian radio station in Radijas on Saturday.
Anusauskas said the Swedish plane was not identified and radio communication was not established with it. The Estonians described the plane as "unidentified," and when the plane returned to the Lithuanian space it was labelled as "identified", whereas it should have been labelled as "unidentified," he said. If a plane labelled as "unidentified" appeared in the Lithuanian airspace, a system launching the fighters stationed in Siauliai would have worked, Anusauskas said.
When asked who is to blame Anusauskas said: "What can I say? It was the Estonians' shift… There are Estonians, Lithuanians, and Latvians in Karmelava, and it was the Estonians' shift. What can we do? We can't do anything to Estonian offices." Anusauskas also said the circumstances of the incident have already been determined and it is now time to evaluate the actions taken by the Lithuanian authorities. "We already have all information. An investigation needs to begin," he said. A plane carrying two Swedes invaded the Belarusian airspace and dropped teddy bears near Minsk in early July. The purpose of the action was to protect freedom of speech. The plane then returned to Sweden through Lithuania.
Ovi+Europe euro-reporter Lithuania Europe Ovi EU |
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