4 April 2026

Transport Minister Juras Taminskas told a parliamentary committee on April 3 that Lithuania will still face a road maintenance funding gap in 2026 even after the new Road Fund starts. State road operator Via Lietuva will borrow, while the main new revenue source, a heavy-vehicle tolling system, will not be fully operational at the start of the year. The presidency postponed any decision on restoring part of the fuel excise refund for business, leaving transport and farming companies without a timetable. Businesses say the Middle East conflict is reaching Lithuania mainly through higher fuel and other operating costs.

In politics, the Social Democrats publicly told President Gitanas Nauseda that the post-election honeymoon is over. Staff shortages are deepening in the interior services, while firefighter and police pay is rising by only about 15 euros. In Kaunas, debate over epilepsy in the labour market resurfaced after Donata’s case, and Sopa representative Jurgita Kupryte said some workers hide their diagnosis from employers. The National Public Health Centre has registered more than 340 Lyme disease cases in Lithuania this year.

In Palanga, a man was killed in an apartment on April 4 and police detained three suspects as investigators work to establish their ties to the victim. In Klaipeda, a man struck a female police officer in the face inside a police facility during a routine procedure, opening a criminal case for violence against an officer. A dead man’s body was found in Panevezys district. Kaunas Regional Court in March awarded 40,000 euros to a former police officer injured while arresting a drunk man. A court has also taken up the receipts cases involving Birstonas deputy mayor Vilius Kederis and council members, and will summon witnesses.

Lithuania’s pavilion structure and display elements for the 2026 Venice Architecture Biennale have already been dispatched to Italy, with installation due to begin before the exhibition opens in May. The shipment went out after a public dispute in Lithuania over how the pavilion would be funded.

Lithuania was identified as one of the European countries where pensions do not cover basic living costs. The government is also preparing customs changes aimed at limiting the role of Chinese technology in state systems.

Ukraine came under a fresh wave of Russian strikes over the past 24 hours, with 14 people killed across several regions. In the Kherson region, five people were killed when a Russian strike hit a market, and governor Oleksandr Prokudin said rescuers were still searching the rubble.

The attacks hit residential districts, energy facilities, and industrial and logistics sites. In Sumy, a Russian drone struck a 16-storey apartment building and injured 11 people. Ukraine’s military said it intercepted part of the incoming drones, while local authorities expanded evacuations from frontline districts. British intelligence said the frontline situation for Ukraine was the best in ten months. Ukrainian drones hit the Signal plant in Russia’s Stavropol region on April 4, damaging a factory that makes electronic warfare equipment and components for military aircraft. Drone attacks in Russia also triggered fires at chemical plants, extending Ukraine’s campaign against industrial sites behind the front.

Russia is evacuating 198 Rosatom workers from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant after a strike near the complex. Rosatom chief executive Alexei Likhachev said the hit landed near the metrology building and within range of the operating reactor unit, although radiation levels remain normal.

Frontex said in March 2026 that attempts to reach the EU via the Western African and Western Mediterranean routes fell, with departures from Morocco making up a smaller share of the flow. The agency pointed to tighter border controls in Mauritania, joint Spanish-Moroccan patrols near the Canary Islands, and rough Atlantic weather. Europe’s battery industry is also posting losses worth billions of euros as projects in Germany and elsewhere struggle to catch up with Asian producers.

The European Parliament is voting on a proposal to allow scanning of internet messages, with critics warning it could amount to mass surveillance. In Istanbul, the Turkish and Ukrainian presidents discussed energy security and peace efforts.

Iran said on April 4 that strikes hit a petrochemical site near the Bushehr nuclear power plant and killed one person, expanding the war into strategic energy territory. U.S. and Iranian forces were also searching southern Iran for a missing F-15E crew member after a second American military aircraft was shot down on April 3.

The Pentagon said on April 3 that 13 U.S. service members have been killed and 365 wounded in the war with Iran. Donald Trump said Iran has 48 hours to make a deal or the United States will unleash “hell”. In Beirut, Israeli jets struck Hezbollah targets overnight in the southern suburbs after rocket and drone fire from Lebanon that Israel says breached the November 2024 ceasefire.

In Sumy, a Russian drone hit a residential high-rise overnight on April 4 and sparked a fire, with Ukrainian officials reporting civilian casualties. In Lviv, a customs inspector was detained on April 2 after a former Olympian was fatally injured at a military recruitment centre, and investigators opened a homicide case. Trump on April 4 again demanded funding to reopen Alcatraz, despite staffing shortages, violence and a multibillion-dollar repair backlog across the federal prison system.

In China’s auto industry, analysts warn that a brutal price war could leave only five major carmakers after consolidation. NASA astronaut Victor Glover is intensifying Artemis II training ahead of the first crewed lunar flyby mission since 1972.

An earthquake struck Afghanistan late in the day. At least 12 people were killed and homes were destroyed.