Lithuania not ready to discuss gay civil unions, says president

The president of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė told journalists that she thinks the country is not ready for a discussion on gay marriage although she thinks it's worthwhile. ‘I think these discussions in Lithuania are very premature and are only starting. I think it's worth holding discussions on any issue in Lithuania. And when the time comes, then we'll decide. I think it's a very premature discussion’, she told journalists on today (21 February). Yesterday (20 February), during a discussion on the topic at the Lithuanian parliament, prime minister, Algirdas Butkevičius, stated his opposition to the legalization of gay partnerships: ‘I have a strong opinion about same-sex partnerships and have said on numerous occasions that I am against them. During the parliamentary debate, Dalia Kuodytė, a member of the Liberal Movement, replied came out in support of legalizing gay partnerships: ‘I see no reasons why a certain group should have restricted rights to partnership.

‘Therefore, we need to talk about the institute of partnership as such, which could be an option for both heterosexual and homosexual couples’. Earlier this month, justice minister, Juozas Bernatonis said the government has no interest following the UK or France neither in introducing gay marriage nor in proposing legislation on registered partnerships. There are several provisions banning the registration of same-sex unions in Lithuania. Article 38 of the Lithuanian Constitution states ‘Marriage shall be concluded upon the free mutual consent of a man and a woman’. Same-sex marriage is also explicitly banned in Article 3.12 of the country's Civil Code, stating that ‘Marriage shall be concluded with a person of the opposite sex only’.

Moreover, the country's Civil Code allows the institution of partnerships to be approved by the legislative authorities, although Article 3.229 of the Code restricts them to heterosexual couples. Although homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993, Lithuania has very limited rights for gays and lesbians.

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Lithuania's PM does not agree that pensioners should be first to get back deposits in Ukio

Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius says that proposition by Chairman of the Budget and Finance Committee Bronius Bradauskas should not be supported. Bradauskas suggests that pensioners would be the first to get back the money stored in bank Ukio.

Butkevicius says that all the deposits are insured. "Everyone who had deposits in this bank (Ukio Bank – ELTA) did not exceed the insured amount. Once again I would like to take this opportunity to reassure you that all deposits of all people – those who retired and those who are not retired – are less than 100,000 Euros, and no one will have any problems with getting it back the next day the bank is opened, "said the PM, Thursday in an interview on the radio Ziniu. Butkevicius hopes that Ukio Bankas will be opened the next week.

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Lithuania to turn Google Street View on tax cheats

Lithuanian tax authorities said Thursday they would use the Baltic States recently launched Google Street View platform to track tax cheats by identifying the real value of property holdings.

"It will help ascertain which property is 'hiding' under the entry recorded in the real-estate register and provide a preliminary assessment of whether the value corresponds to the declared value," Lithuanian deputy state tax inspector Arturas Klerauskas told AFP. The Google application, which lets users view panoramic street scenes on Google Maps, will also be used to examine buildings which are far from tax offices before deciding if a more thorough investigation is needed, he added.

"This tool might also help identify unregistered real estate," Klerauskas said. Google Street View was launched in Lithuania a week ago, after Google overcame initial reluctance on the part of the authorities that stemmed from privacy and security concerns.