18 May 2026

Lithuania’s state audit office warned that the country is nearing its fiscal discipline limits as spending growth outpaces the legal ceiling. It said the general government deficit could reach about 3% of GDP in 2028, exceed that level in 2029, and debt rise from 45% to 55.3% of GDP by 2029.

The government is today considering a plan to channel about 1.8 billion euros of EU funds into apartment renovations and the green economy. The Environment Ministry has earmarked 522 million euros for climate measures in 2026-2029, including 492.5 million euros for renovations, and plans an autumn call worth nearly 900 million euros for about 640 projects. The European Commission has also approved another 153 million euros for Lithuania from the EU recovery and resilience facility, with payment expected in July after review by EU Council committees. The sixth request covered 18 milestones in health care, power generation, building renovation, digitalisation and social inclusion, and Lithuania plans to submit its final payment request in September covering the remaining 68 milestones.

Linas Liutkevičius told LRT he spent four months in two dugouts linked by a tunnel in Ukraine after his unit’s defensive line collapsed, before returning to Lithuania for treatment. He said soldiers at the position were repeatedly told extraction would come the next day, while captured Russian troops were held nearby in the same trench system. Lithuanian police handed 79 vehicles to their counterparts in Lviv over the weekend after a convoy reached western Ukraine following several days on the road via Poland. Ukrainian police will use the cars for patrols and emergency response in a region where wartime policing demands remain high.

Trade unions criticised the president’s labour-related proposal, saying it would create “modern slavery”. Lithuania is accelerating work to strengthen anti-drone systems, although officials say deployment will take time. A new survey also showed some public institutions remain far more trusted than politicians, with parliament and government at the bottom of the ranking.

Lithuania's defence minister said on Sunday morning authorities received information that a drone had violated Lithuanian airspace and then disappeared. In sport, Edas Butvilas beat the world No. 69 in an ATP event, one of the biggest wins of his career.

The Kremlin moved to defend Vladimir Putin today after Ukraine launched more than 500 drones into Russia overnight, killing three people in the Moscow region and injuring four, according to Russian officials. In the previous wave of strikes, a woman was killed in Khimki and two men died in Pogorelki, about 10 km from the capital, while debris fell at Moscow’s largest airport. Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Ukraine’s security service and armed forces for precise strikes on the Moscow area and said the balance on the battlefield was shifting.

Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was prepared, but the line from the Kremlin did little to calm fury among Russia’s pro-war camp. That camp is splitting between older loyalists tied to the state and a louder ultra-nationalist bloc of Z-bloggers demanding harsher measures and wider mobilisation. Russian strikes across Ukraine over the past day injured civilians in several regions, with nine wounded in Dnipro. A separate drone attack on Odesa injured two people and damaged homes.

Russian and pro-Russian outlets today pushed a false claim that Ukraine’s anti-corruption bureau had opened a case against Olena Zelenska. NABU said the story was part of a disinformation campaign and urged the public to rely on official sources. Lithuania’s defence ministry said NATO jets in the Baltics were scrambled three times last week to identify and escort Russian aircraft, including two AN-12 transports, an AN-72, a SU-35 and a SU-24MR. Some of the aircraft flew without flight plans or transponders and without radio contact with the regional control centre.

At a technology event in Vilnius, a former Amazon executive said Asia treats digital tools as a growth engine while Europe still sees them mainly through risk and regulation. She warned that European companies delaying automation and artificial intelligence will lose ground to rivals already using both to scale.

Ukraine tested a new missile version capable of striking targets up to 2,000 kilometres away. In Libya, the death toll from the floods surpassed 3,000.

Ukraine’s drone forces chief Robert Brovdi said Kyiv would keep striking targets inside Russia and push operations deeper behind the front line. His comments came after a major Ukrainian drone raid over the weekend that Russian officials said killed four people in the Moscow region and in Belgorod. President Volodymyr Zelensky linked the campaign to Russian strikes on Kyiv.

G7 finance ministers met on Monday to assess the economic fallout from the war with Iran and said they were ready to take all necessary steps to steady energy markets. France said the talks included possible use of strategic oil reserves, while officials examined risks to financial markets, global growth and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump again threatened Iran with total destruction. The White House also said China would buy at least $17 billion of U.S. agricultural products annually.

In the Middle East, Israeli forces intercepted ships from a flotilla bound for Gaza near Cyprus. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes in Lebanon killed at least seven people over the past two days despite a ceasefire that, in historical context, took effect on April 17. Israel has continued hitting Hezbollah targets, including vehicles near Beirut and towns in the south.

NextEra Energy said it would buy Dominion Energy in a $66.8 billion all-stock deal, one of the biggest U.S. energy transactions of the year. The tie-up comes as electricity demand rises sharply from AI data centres, manufacturing reshoring and wider electrification. Amnesty International said at least 2,707 people were executed in 17 countries in 2025, the highest annual total it has recorded since 1981, with Iran accounting for at least 2,159 executions. The World Health Organization also declared an international emergency over an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 80 people.

The United Nations called on Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza. The United States extended for 30 days sanctions exemptions covering Russian oil movements at sea. A new Ebola outbreak was recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo.