Misplaced Pages

#438561

114-757: In the 2014 parliamentary election , Juncker campaigned as the candidate of the European People's Party (EPP) for the presidency of the European Commission . The EPP won a plurality in parliament, and on 27 June, the European Council nominated him for the post. Later on 15 July 2014, the European Parliament elected Juncker as the new Commission president. On 22 October, the European Parliament approved

228-451: A 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 1.62/10, ranking it 162nd globally out of 172 countries. Lithuanian ecosystems include natural and semi-natural (forests, bogs , wetlands and meadows), and anthropogenic (agrarian and urban) ecosystems. Among natural ecosystems, forests are particularly important to Lithuania, covering 33% of the country's territory. Wetlands (raised bogs, fens , transitional mires, etc.) cover 7.9% of

342-816: A decisive Polish–Lithuanian victory in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 and by concluding the Treaty of Melno in 1422. In the 15th century the strengthened Grand Duchy of Moscow renewed the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars for the Lithuanian-controlled Eastern Orthodox territories. Due to the unsuccessful beginning of the Livonian War , loss of land to the Tsardom of Russia , and pressure by monarch Sigismund II Augustus ,

456-510: A five-year term and serving a maximum of two terms. The president oversees foreign affairs and national security, and is the commander-in-chief of the military. The president also appoints the prime minister and, on the latter's nomination, the rest of the cabinet, as well as a number of other top civil servants and the judges for all courts except the Constitutional Court. The current Lithuanian head of state, Gitanas Nausėda

570-514: A fragmented multi-party system, with a number of small parties in which coalition governments are common. Ordinary elections to the Seimas take place on the second Sunday of October every four years. To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 21 years old on the election day, not under allegiance to a foreign state and permanently reside in Lithuania. Persons serving or due to serve

684-692: A gatekeeper function regarding new initiatives. All "major initiatives" must henceforth be approved by the "relevant Vice-President(s) and the First Vice-President, unless they are initiated directly by the President". Secondly, the SG was made chair of all inter-service steering groups (ISGs) dealing with priority initiatives in the Commission's work programme. Juncker also abolished the position of Commissioner for Climate Action, merging it with

798-407: A hurry. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called for "fewer rules and less fuss", while British Prime Minister David Cameron said "Europe should concentrate on what matters, on growth and jobs, and not try to do so much." Between the election and the inaugural session of the 8th European Parliament , scheduled for 1 July, some parties and individual MEPs usually switch allegiances between

912-590: A minimum threshold of six members per Member State. No Member State shall be allocated more than ninety-six seats." It had been the stated desire of the member-state governments to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon before the 2009 election, so that its articles governing the European Parliament could be in force for that election. However, this was blocked by the Irish rejection of the treaty in a referendum. Therefore, in June 2009,

1026-715: A resolution, featuring the aspiration for the restoration of Lithuania's sovereignty and military alliance with Germany and elected the Council of Lithuania . In 1918, the short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania was proclaimed; however on 16 February 1918 the Council of Lithuania adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania which restored Lithuania as democratic republic with its capital in Vilnius and separated that state from all state relations that existed with other nations. In 1918–1920

1140-429: A sentence imposed by the court 65 days before the election are not eligible. Also, judges, citizens performing military service, and servicemen of professional military service and officials of statutory institutions and establishments may not stand for election. Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats won the 2020 Lithuanian parliamentary elections and gained 50 of 141 seats in the parliament. In October 2020,

1254-778: A supporter of a close Polish–Lithuanian union, the Lithuanian nobility agreed to conclude the Union of Lublin in 1569 with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , which created a new federative Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with a joint monarch (holding both titles of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania), but Lithuania remained a separate state from Poland with its own territory (~300 000 km2), coat of arms, management apparatus, laws, courts, seal, army, treasury, etc. After concluding

SECTION 10

#1732764957439

1368-694: A year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union , Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to break away when it proclaimed the restoration of its independence . Lithuania is a developed country with a high income , advanced economy , ranking 37th in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 19th in the World Happiness Report . Lithuania is a member of the European Union , the Council of Europe ,

1482-693: Is a European political party that unites national parties from across Europe that share Christian democratic politics. The member parties are generally more socially conservative and Eurosceptic than the European People's Party, not only at this election allied with the AECR, without any candidate as well. The newly founded European Pirate Party elected MEP Amelia Andersdotter (who is running for re-election) and The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde (running for election in Finland) as its candidates for

1596-616: Is an accepted version of this page – in Europe  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  –  [ Legend ] Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe . It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea , bordered by Latvia to

1710-537: Is not farmed, and acts as an ecological niche for weeds and invasive plant species. Habitat deterioration is occurring in regions with very productive and expensive lands as crop areas are expanded. Currently, 18.9% of all plant species, including 1.87% of all known fungi species and 31% of all known species of lichens, are listed in the Lithuanian Red Data Book . The list also contains 8% of all fish species. The wildlife populations have rebounded as

1824-459: Is still used, usually poetically or in historical contexts, in the Latvian language , which is closely related to Lithuanian. The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded about 10,000 years ago. The first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC : Kunda , Neman and Narva cultures . They were traveling hunters. In

1938-703: Is the largest, Tauragnas is the deepest and Asveja is the longest lake in Lithuania. After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent of Europe in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National (French National Geographic Institute), determined that the geographic centre of Europe was in Lithuania, at 54°54′N 25°19′E  /  54.900°N 25.317°E  / 54.900; 25.317  ( Purnuškės (centre of gravity) ) , 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of Lithuania's capital city of Vilnius . Affholder accomplished this by calculating

2052-592: The 2023 NATO summit was held in Vilnius. Lithuania is located in the Baltic region of Europe and covers an area of 65,300 km (25,200 sq mi). It lies between latitudes 53° and 57° N , and mostly between longitudes 21° and 27° E (part of the Curonian Spit lies west of 21°). It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, only about 38 kilometres (24 mi) of which face

2166-579: The European Parliament shall endorse or veto the appointment of the president of the European Commission on the basis of a proposal made by the European Council , taking into account the European elections (article 17, paragraph 7 of the Treaty on European Union ). This provision applied for the first time for the 2014 elections. Nevertheless, senior figures such as European Council president Herman Van Rompuy , German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and former Commission president Jacques Delors questioned

2280-756: The European People's Party (EPP), the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE party), the European Green Party (EGP), the Party of European Left (EL) and the European Democratic Party . On 6 and 7 March 2014, the congress of the European People's Party in Dublin elected Jean-Claude Juncker as its presidential candidate, who run against Michel Barnier , and adopted an election manifesto . Juncker set out

2394-545: The European People's Party lost ground to the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats , it remained the largest faction in the new Parliament, resulting in the EPP's nomination of Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President at the European Council . In turn, the European Council accepted the nomination by a simple majority (only David Cameron and Viktor Orban voted against Juncker). The Council of

SECTION 20

#1732764957439

2508-616: The European People's Party , Martin Schulz for the Party of European Socialists , Guy Verhofstadt for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party , Ska Keller and José Bové jointly for the European Green Party and Alexis Tsipras for the Party of the European Left . The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists and the European Alliance for Freedom declined to nominate candidates. While

2622-636: The French invasion of Russia has established the puppet Lithuanian Provisional Governing Commission to support his war efforts, however after Napoleon's defeat the Russian rule was reinstated in Lithuania. During the November Uprising (1830–1831) the Lithuanians and Poles jointly attempted to restore their statehoods, however the Russian victory resulted in stricter Russification measures:

2736-652: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania 's territory, which reached ~650,000 km2 in the first half of the 14th century. At the end of the 14th century Lithuania was the largest country in Europe . In 1385, Lithuania formed a dynastic union with Poland through the Union of Krewo . Furthermore, in the late 14th–15th centuries patrilineal members of the Lithuanian ruling Gediminids dynasty ruled not only Lithuania and Poland, but Hungary , Croatia , Bohemia , and Moldavia . The German attacks on Lithuania were ceased with

2850-468: The Great Recession , started several months after the last Parliament election in June 2009 . Although it affected most EU member states, the hardest-hit economies were those of southern Europe: Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, along with Ireland. Among other reasons, harsh austerity measures significantly affected the public approval of EU leadership. The percentage of Greeks approving

2964-534: The Nemunas River basin occupying 74% of the territory of the country. Due to the construction of dams, approximately 70% of spawning sites of potential catadromous fish species have disappeared. In some cases, river and lake ecosystems continue to be impacted by anthropogenic eutrophication . Agricultural land comprises 54% of Lithuania's territory (roughly 70% of that is arable land and 30% meadows and pastures), approximately 400,000 ha of agricultural land

3078-453: The OECD . Dalia Grybauskaitė was the first female President of Lithuania (2009–2019) and the first to be re-elected for a second consecutive term. On 24 February 2022, Lithuania declared a state of emergency in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Together with seven other NATO member states, it invoked NATO Article 4 to hold consultations on security. On 11–12 July 2023,

3192-486: The Red Army was expelled from its territory, however in a few days Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany . In 1944 Lithuania was re-occupied by the Soviet Union and Soviet political repressions along with Soviet deportations from Lithuania resumed. Thousands of Lithuanian partisans and their supporters attempted to militarily restore independent Lithuania, but their resistance was eventually suppressed in 1953 by

3306-642: The Roman Empire , but they did maintain trade contacts via the amber road . From the 9th to the 11th centuries, coastal Balts were subjected to raids by the Vikings . The first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. Facing the German threat , Mindaugas in the middle of the 13th century united a large part of the Baltic tribes and founded the State of Lithuania, while in 1253 he

3420-597: The Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. Towards the end of World War I , Lithuania declared Independence in 1918, founding the modern Republic of Lithuania. In World War II , Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union , then by Nazi Germany , before being reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944. Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet occupation lasted until the early 1950s. On 11 March 1990,

3534-545: The Russian language has been introduced in all government institutions, Vilnius University was closed in 1832, and theories that Lithuania was a "Western Russian" state since its establishment were propagated. Subsequently, the Lithuanians once again tried to restore statehood by participating in the January Uprising (1863–1864), but yet another Russian victory resulted in even stronger Russification policies with

Juncker Commission - Misplaced Pages Continue

3648-523: The Soviet authorities and their collaborators . Jonas Žemaitis , the chairman of the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters , was captured and executed in 1954, his successor as chairman Adolfas Ramanauskas was brutally tortured and executed in 1957. Since the late 1980s Sąjūdis movement sought for the restoration of independent Lithuania and in 1989 the Baltic Way was held. On 11 March 1990,

3762-490: The Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Lithuania became the first Soviet-occupied state to announce the restitution of independence. On 20 April 1990, the Soviets imposed an economic blockade by ceasing to deliver supplies of raw materials to Lithuania. Not only domestic industry, but also the population started feeling the lack of fuel, essential goods, and even hot water. Although

3876-735: The World War II concluded the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty . In 1940 Lithuania has accepted the Soviet ultimatum and recovered the control of historical capital Vilnius, however the acceptance resulted in the Soviet occupation of Lithuania and its transformation into the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic . In 1941 during the June Uprising in Lithuania it was attempted to restore independent Lithuania and

3990-574: The centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe. Lithuania has a temperate climate with both maritime and continental influences. It is defined as humid continental (Dfb) under the Köppen climate classification (but is close to oceanic in a narrow coastal zone). Average temperatures on the coast are −2.5 °C (27.5 °F) in January and 16 °C (61 °F) in July. In Vilnius,

4104-542: The energy portfolio , to improve cooperation between staff in the Directorate-General (DG) Energy and the former DG Climate Action. The following college of commissioners serves under Juncker's presidency:     European People's Party (14)     Party of European Socialists (7)     Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (4)    None (1) ( EPP – CSV ) ( PES – PvdA ) High Representative of

4218-573: The ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian . For millennia, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes . In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united for the first time by Mindaugas , who formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. Subsequent expansion and consolidation resulted in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , which by the 14th century

4332-744: The eurozone , the Nordic Investment Bank , the Schengen Agreement , NATO , and OECD . It also participates in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) regional co-operation format. The first known record of the name of Lithuania ( Lithuanian : Lietuva ) is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno in the Quedlinburg Chronicle . The Chronicle recorded a Latinized form of the name Lietuva: Litua (pronounced [litua] ). Due to lack of reliable evidence,

4446-478: The new constitution . There were intense debates concerning the constitution, particularly the role of the president. A separate referendum was held on 23 May 1992 to gauge public opinion on the matter, and 41% of voters supported the restoration of the President of Lithuania . Through compromise, a semi-presidential system was agreed on. The Lithuanian head of state is the president, directly elected for

4560-1216: The political groups of the European Parliament . This process, which sometimes has resulted in the disappearance of whole political groups from the Parliament, or their recomposition in another form, is particularly important for new parties and MEPs. The following table describes the announced membership changes in the Parliament groupings and the impact on the Parliament makeup: [REDACTED] PNL +6 [REDACTED] Potami [REDACTED] DK [REDACTED] Child. [REDACTED] FI +2 +2 +1 +1 [REDACTED] N-VA [REDACTED] BBTs [REDACTED] VMRO [REDACTED] DF [REDACTED] PS [REDACTED] AfD [REDACTED] Famil. [REDACTED] ANEL [REDACTED] FF [REDACTED] SGP [REDACTED] Nova [REDACTED] OĽaNO +4 +1 +1 +4 +2 +7 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 [REDACTED] ANO [REDACTED] FW [REDACTED] MPT [REDACTED] Diac. [REDACTED] DeSUS [REDACTED] UPyD [REDACTED] C's Lithuania This

4674-583: The real union Lithuania and Poland jointly managed to reach military successes during the Livonian War, occupation of Moscow (1610), war with Sweden (1600–1611) , Smolensk war with Russia (1632–1634) , etc. In 1588, Sigismund III Vasa personally confirmed the Third Statute of Lithuania where it was stated that Lithuania and Poland have equal rights within the Commonwealth and ensured

Juncker Commission - Misplaced Pages Continue

4788-406: The renewable energy sources. In 2016, Lithuania introduced especially effective container deposit legislation , which resulted in collecting 92% of all packagings in 2017. Lithuania does not have high mountains and its landscape is dominated by blooming meadows, dense forests and fertile fields of cereals. However, it stands out by the abundance of hillforts , which previously had castles where

4902-469: The separation of powers . The real union strongly intensified the Polonization of Lithuania and Lithuanian nobility. The mid-17th century was marked with disastrous military loses for Lithuania as during the Deluge most of the territory of Lithuania was annexed by the Tsardom of Russia and even Lithuania's capital Vilnius was fully captured for the first time by a foreign army and ravaged. In 1655, Lithuania unilaterally seceded from Poland, declared

5016-403: The Żeligowski's Mutiny the Polish forces captured Vilnius Region and established a puppet state of the Republic of Central Lithuania , which in 1922 was incorporated into Poland. Consequently, Kaunas became the temporary capital of Lithuania where the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania was held and other primary Lithuanian institutions operated until 1940. In 1923, the Klaipėda Revolt

5130-408: The 1960s. A warming trend has persisted since then. Lithuania experienced a drought in 2002, causing forest and peat bog fires. After the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990, the Aplinkos apsaugos įstatymas (Environmental Protection Act) was adopted already in 1992. The law provided the foundations for regulating social relations in the field of environmental protection, established

5244-405: The 8th millennium BC, the climate became warmer, and forests developed. The inhabitants of what is now Lithuania travelled less and engaged in local hunting, gathering and fresh-water fishing. The Indo-Europeans , who arrived in the 3rd – 2nd millennium BC, mixed with the local population and formed various Baltic tribes . The Baltic tribes did not maintain close cultural or political contacts with

5358-409: The Alliance for Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) for designating its candidate for President of the European Commission is: In 2012, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE) members were said to be "struggling" to find a candidate for Commission president ahead of the 2014 European elections. Guy Verhofstadt was considered to be the likely nominee, but a meeting of

5472-415: The Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre . On 17 September 1991, Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations . On 25 October 1992, citizens voted in a referendum to adopt the current constitution . On 14 February 1993, during the direct general elections, Algirdas Brazauskas became the first president after the restoration of independence. On 31 August 1993 the last units of

5586-562: The Crusaders, fighting alongside other Baltic tribes, but was unable to militarily assist the Old Prussians in their Great Uprising . Traidenis' main residence was in Kernavė . From the late 13th century members of the Lithuanian Gediminids dynasty began ruling Lithuania, who consolidated a hereditary monarchy and the status of Vilnius as permanent capital city , christianized Lithuania and by incorporating East Slavs ' territories (e.g. principalities of Minsk , Kyiv , Polotsk , Vitebsk , Smolensk , etc.) significantly expanded

5700-733: The EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Confirmation October 22, 2014 Took office November 1, 2014 ( PES – PD ) ( PES – Smer-SD ) ( EPP – KOK ) ( EPP – Unity ) ( ALDE – ANO ) ( EPP – GERB ) ( EPP – CDU ) ( PES – PS ) ( EPP – CD&V ) ( EPP – ÖVP ) ( EPP – ND ) Former Minister of Health Vytenis Andriukaitis of [REDACTED] Lithuania ( PES – SDP ) (None) ( EPP – PO ) ( EPP – PP ) ( PES – SDP ) ( ALDE – RV ) ( ALDE – SMC ) ( ALDE – L ) ( PES – PL ) ( EPP – Fidesz ) ( EPP – PSD ) ( EPP – FG ) ( EPP – DISY ) The President's cabinet supports

5814-470: The EU leadership decreased from 32% in 2010 to 19% in 2013, while in Spain, the approval dwindled more than a half from 59% in 2008 to 27% in 2013. Overall, only four of the 27 members countries approved the EU leadership. Peter S. Goodman suggests that "distrust about the treaties and conventions that hold together modern Europe appear at an all-time high." "Europe's establishment parties are widely expected to suffer their worst performance" since 1979, with

SECTION 50

#1732764957439

5928-470: The European Commission presidency. The European Pirate Party is not recognised as a European political party . The lead candidates designated for nomination to the European Commission presidency participated in various debates, conducted in different countries and variously, in French , German and English. A total of ten debates were held through April and May in the lead up to the election period. Five debates were designed as head-to-head debates between

6042-489: The European Democratic Party decided to designate a candidate on the occasion of the next meeting in February 2014, along with its manifesto. The next president of the Commission will have to "settle a more political Commission". Allied with the Liberals in the ALDE Group but opposed to Olli Rehn, the European Democratic Party welcomed the candidature of Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE Group leader. The party adopted its manifesto on 28 February and named Guy Verhofstadt as its candidate for

6156-441: The European Parliament was elected under the rules of the Treaty of Nice , which provided for 736 seats, instead of the 751 to be provided in the Treaty of Lisbon. The Lisbon Treaty was subsequently ratified, and provisional measures were ratified in December 2011 to give the 18 additional seats, to the countries entitled to them, before the 2014 elections, without withdrawing Germany's 3 extra seats. These 18 additional MEPs brought

6270-440: The European Union decided to hold the 2014 elections in late May instead of early June as had been the case with previous EP elections. The elections were brought forward to provide more time for the election of a president of the European Commission , and because they would otherwise have coincided with the Pentecost weekend which falls during school holidays in many member states. The ongoing Eurozone crisis , an offshoot of

6384-419: The European Union won "unprecedented" victories according to some news organisations such as Reuters . Elsewhere, populist parties won significant seats. In total, roughly a quarter of all seats went to parties sceptical of the EU or protest parties. Thus, the election was seen as anti-establishment. In the wake of the election, several prominent political figures said the EU needed to realign its priorities in

6498-427: The Juncker Commission in its entirety and during the 23–24 October 2014 meeting of the European Council the Council formally appointed the new Commission. On 1 November 2014, the new Commission officially assumed office. Juncker has outlined a ten-point agenda for his Presidency focusing on jobs and growth. Under the Juncker Commission, the EU General Data Protection Regulation was passed. The Commission co-developed

6612-421: The Lithuanians defended the statehood of Lithuania during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence with Bolsheviks , Bermontians and Poles . The aims of the newly restored Lithuania clashed with Józef Piłsudski 's plans to create a federation ( Intermarium ) in territories previously ruled by the Jagiellonians . The Lithuanian authorities prevented the 1919 Polish coup attempt in Lithuania and in 1920 during

6726-469: The Presidency of the European Commission on 12 March. Guy Verhofstadt was elected. The Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists did not present a candidate for the European Commission presidency. They argued that participating in the process would legitimate a federalist vision of a European super-state and that the lack of a European demos makes the process illegitimate. The European Free Alliance stands for "a Europe of Free Peoples based on

6840-505: The President of the commission, and thus has a very central role in coordinating the work of the European Commission as a whole. The president's cabinet is led by Clara Martinez Alberola . Formerly, it was led by Martin Selmayr , who has been described as "the most powerful EU chief of staff ever." Juncker has for the first time proposed a commission that clusters certain members together under designated policy areas. These clusters are known as "Project Teams" and will each be headed by one of

6954-410: The Seimas, and the Chairman of the Supreme Court,. The unicameral Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas , has 141 members who are elected to four-year terms. 71 of the members of its members are elected in single-member constituencies, and the others in a nationwide vote by proportional representation . A party must receive at least 5% of the national vote to be eligible for any of the 70 national seats in

SECTION 60

#1732764957439

7068-442: The Seimas. Lithuania was one of the first countries in the world to grant women a right to vote in the elections. Lithuanian women were allowed to vote by the 1918 Constitution of Lithuania and used their newly granted right for the first time in 1919. By doing so, Lithuania allowed it earlier than such democratic countries as the United States (1920), France (1945), Greece (1952), Switzerland (1971). Lithuania exhibits

7182-523: The Swedish King Charles X Gustav as the Grand Duke of Lithuania and fell under the protection of the Swedish Empire . However, by 1657 Lithuania was once again a part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth following the Lithuanian revolt against the Swedes. Vilnius was recaptured from the Russians in 1661. In the second half of the 18th century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was three times partitioned by three neighboring countries which completely dissoluted both independent Lithuania and Poland from

7296-421: The Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy after the 2014 election, and two liberal politicians in the EU's top ranks were not expected to be considered acceptable. While a compromise position was reached (to nominate a candidate for Commission President "in time for the 2014 European Parliamentary election campaign"), the corresponding resolution was not passed due to disagreements on other points included in

7410-457: The ancient Lithuanians burned altars for pagan gods. Lithuania is a particularly watered region with more than 3,000 lakes, mostly in the northeast. The country is also drained by numerous rivers, most notably the longest Nemunas . Lithuania is home to two terrestrial ecoregions: Central European mixed forests and Sarmatic mixed forests . Forest has long been one of the most important natural resources in Lithuania. Forests occupy one-third of

7524-426: The aspiration of European political parties to link the presidency of the European Commission with the result of the European elections and insisted that the future Commission president has to suit Member States' expectations first. Based on these new provisions, the following European political parties designated candidates for Commission president ahead of the 2014 election: the Party of European Socialists (PES),

7638-486: The average temperatures are −6 °C (21 °F) in January and 17 °C (63 °F) in July. During the summer, 20 °C (68 °F) is common during the day, while 14 °C (57 °F) is common at night; in the past, temperatures have reached as high as 30 or 35 °C (86 or 95 °F). Some winters can be very cold. −20 °C (−4 °F) occurs almost every winter. Winter extremes are −34 °C (−29 °F) in coastal areas and −43 °C (−45 °F) in

7752-405: The basic rights and obligations of legal and natural persons in preserving the biodiversity inherent in Lithuania, ecological systems and the landscape. Lithuania agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 20% of 1990 levels by 2020 and by at least 40% by 2030, together with all European Union members. Also, by 2020 at least 20% (27% by 2030) of the country's total energy consumption should be from

7866-417: The blockade lasted for 74 days, Lithuania did not renounce the declaration of independence. Gradually, economic relations were restored. However, tensions peaked again in January 1991. Attempts were made to carry out a coup using the Soviet Armed Forces , the Internal Army of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR Committee for State Security ( KGB ). Because of the poor economic situation in Lithuania,

7980-408: The country's territory and timber-related industrial production accounts for almost 11% of industrial production in the country. Lithuania has five national parks , 30 regional parks , 402 nature reserves , 668 state-protected natural heritage objects. In 2018 Lithuania was ranked fifth, second to Sweden (first 3 places were not granted) in the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). It had

8094-412: The country, with 70% of wetlands having been lost due to drainage and peat extraction between 1960 and 1980. Changes in wetland plant communities resulted in the replacement of moss and grass communities by trees and shrubs, and fens not directly affected by land reclamation have become drier as a result of a drop in the water table. There are 29,000 rivers with a total length of 64,000 km in Lithuania,

8208-486: The crisis" from keeping the monopoly during the electoral campaign. The Council reaffirmed however that this new measure "will not hide, as European leaders and the troika hope, their authoritarianism". The Council decided to submit to the decision of the next Congress, 13 to 15 December in Madrid, the candidacy of Alexis Tsipras , who "would be the voice of resistance and hope against the ultra-liberal policies and facing

8322-712: The decision that PES would designate its candidate for Commission president in December 2009, which rapidly triggered debates about how to select this candidate. The PES Congress gathering in Brussels in November 2011 made the decision that it would select the PES candidate through internal primaries in each of its member parties and organisations. Member parties and organisations are free to determine their own voting process, including by opening it to non-members. The timetable of

8436-536: The east of Lithuania. The average annual precipitation is 800 mm (31.5 in) on the coast, 900 mm (35.4 in) in the Samogitia highlands, and 600 mm (23.6 in) in the eastern part of the country. Snow occurs every year, and it can snow from October to April. In some years, sleet can fall in September or May. The growing season lasts 202 days in the western part of the country and 169 days in

8550-424: The eastern part. Severe storms are rare in the eastern part of Lithuania but common in the coastal areas. The longest records of measured temperature in the Baltic area cover about 250 years. The data show warm periods during the latter half of the 18th century, and that the 19th century was a relatively cool period. An early 20th-century warming culminated in the 1930s, followed by a smaller cooling that lasted until

8664-484: The edge of the North European Plain . Its landscape was smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age , and is a combination of moderate lowlands and highlands. Its highest point is Aukštojas Hill at 294 metres (965 ft) in the eastern part of the country. The terrain features numerous lakes ( Lake Vištytis , for example) and wetlands, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country. Drūkšiai

8778-404: The election day and reside in Lithuania for at least three years, in addition to satisfying the eligibility criteria for a member of the parliament. Same President may serve for not more than two terms. Gitanas Nausėda was elected as an independent candidate in 2019 and re-elected in 2024 . Each municipality in Lithuania is governed by a municipal council and a mayor , who is a member of

8892-417: The following process: hydronym → toponym → ethnonym . Lietava , a small river not far from Kernavė , the core area of the early Lithuanian state and a possible first capital of the eventual Grand Duchy of Lithuania , is usually credited as the source of the name. However, the river is very small and some find it improbable that such a small and local object could have lent its name to an entire nation. On

9006-632: The forces in Moscow thought the coup d'état would receive strong public support. People flooded to Vilnius to defend the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania and independence. The coup ended with a few casualties and material loss. The Soviet Army killed 14 people and injured hundreds. A large part of the Lithuanian population participated in the January Events . On 31 July 1991, Soviet paramilitaries killed 7 Lithuanian border guards on

9120-580: The former Soviet Army left Lithuania. On 31 May 2001, Lithuania joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since March 2004, Lithuania has been part of NATO . On 1 May 2004, it became a full member of the European Union , and a member of the Schengen Agreement in December 2007. On 1 January 2015, Lithuania joined the eurozone and adopted the European Union's single currency. On 4 July 2018, Lithuania officially joined

9234-442: The hunting became more restricted and urbanization allowed replanting forests (forests already tripled in size since their lows). Currently, Lithuania has approximately 250,000 larger wild animals or 5 per each square kilometre. The most prolific large wild animal in every part of Lithuania is the roe deer , with 120,000 of them. They are followed by boars (55,000). Other ungulates are the deer (~22,000), fallow-deer (~21,000) and

9348-457: The initiative of the European Parliament and with its consent, a decision establishing the composition of the European Parliament", respecting the principle of degressive proportionality, the threshold of 6 MEPs for smaller member states and the limit of 96 MEPs for larger member states. The centre-right European People's Party won the most seats, but came up well short of a majority. In Denmark, France, and United Kingdom rightist groups opposed to

9462-562: The introduction of the Lithuanian press ban , pressure of the Catholic Church in Lithuania and Mikhail Muravyov-Vilensky 's repressions. The Lithuanians resisted Russification through an extensive network of Lithuanian book smugglers , secret Lithuanian publishing and homeschooling. Moreover, the Lithuanian National Revival , inspired by Lithuanian history, language and culture, laid the foundations for

9576-578: The largest one: moose (~7,000). Among the Lithuanian predators, foxes are the most common (~27,000). Wolves are, however, more ingrained into the mythology as there are just 800 in Lithuania. Even rarer are the lynxes (~200). The large animals mentioned above exclude the rabbit , ~200,000 of which may live in the Lithuanian forests. Since Lithuania declared the restoration of its independence on 11 March 1990, it has maintained strong democratic traditions. It held its first independent general elections on 25 October 1992, in which 56.75% of voters supported

9690-490: The law, culminating in a trilogue proposal between the Commission, Parliament, and Council on 15 December 2015. The GDPR entered into force on 24 May 2016. The Commission abolished retail telephone and mobile data roaming charges in the member states and some others ( Roam Like At Home ). Juncker made the Commission's work more top-down by strengthening the Secretariat-General in two ways. Firstly, he gave it

9804-605: The left of the political spectrum, and in the Brussels declaration it emphasises the protection of human rights, sustainable development and social justice. In 2007 the EFA congress in Bilbao added several progressive principles to the declaration: including a commitment to fight against racism, antisemitism, discrimination, xenophobia and islamophobia and a commitment to get full citizenship for migrants, including voting rights. The European Christian Political Movement , abbreviated to ECPM,

9918-631: The most votes in this election, including parties in Austria ( Freedom Party ), Denmark ( People's Party ), France ( National Front ), the Netherlands ( Party for Freedom ), and the UK ( UKIP ). In Greece, the left-wing Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) consistently led the polling in the leadup to the election. In Italy the populist and anti-establishment Five Star Movement , according to

10032-450: The municipal council. The number of members, elected on a four-year term, in each municipal council depends on the size of the municipality and varies from 15 (in municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents) to 51 (in municipalities with more than 500,000 residents). 1,524 municipal council members were elected in 2015. Members of the council, with the exception of the mayor, are elected using proportional representation. Starting with 2015,

10146-436: The north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and the Russian semi-exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest, with a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Lithuania covers an area of 65,300 km (25,200 sq mi), with a population of 2.88 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius . Other major cities are Kaunas , Klaipėda , Šiauliai and Panevėžys . Lithuanians belong to

10260-640: The number of MEPs to 754 temporarily until 2014. These 18 "phantom MEPs" would initially have observer status, before becoming full members of the parliament if an additional protocol is ratified by 2014. Thus the 2014 election will be the first to apply the apportionment of seats provided by the Lisbon treaty. Andrew Duff MEP (ALDE, UK) tabled two reports in March 2011 and September 2012 proposing new apportionments of seats (see table opposite). Article 14 provides that "The European Council shall adopt by unanimity, on

10374-566: The open Baltic Sea , less than the other two Baltic states. The rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port , Klaipėda , lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršių marios ), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad . The country's main and largest river, the Nemunas River , and some of its tributaries carry international shipping. Lithuania lies at

10488-479: The other hand, such naming is not unprecedented in world history. Artūras Dubonis proposed another hypothesis, that Lietuva relates to the word leičiai (plural of leitis ). From the middle of the 13th century, leičiai were a distinct warrior social group of the Lithuanian society subordinate to the Lithuanian ruler or the state itself. The word leičiai is used in 14–16th century historical sources as an ethnonym for Lithuanians (but not Samogitians ) and

10602-432: The outcome of the elections based on national polls. Some of the institutes below, such as Pollwatch, applied algorithms to the national poll results before aggregating them, in an attempt to account for the lower than expected results received by governing parties in previous European Parliament elections. However, other institutions did not share the expectation that governing parties would automatically perform worse than

10716-594: The political map in 1795 after a failed Kościuszko Uprising and short-lived recapture of capital Vilnius in 1794. Most of Lithuania's territory was annexed by the Russian Empire , while Užnemunė  [ lt ] was annexed by Prussia . Following the annexation the Russian Tsarist authorities implemented Russification policies in Lithuania, which then made a part of a new administrative region Northwestern Krai . In 1812 Napoleon during

10830-531: The polls suggest. Note : Percentages indicate proportion of predicted seats and not vote share. Decisions on the apportionment of seats in the Parliament are governed by article 14 of the Treaty of Lisbon . This article lays down that "The European Parliament shall be composed of representatives of the Union's citizens. They shall not exceed seven hundred and fifty in number, plus the President. Representation of citizens shall be degressively proportional , with

10944-614: The polls, was expected to be the second most popular party after the Democratic Party , with about 25% of votes. In January 2014, José Manuel Barroso , President of the European Commission, said, "We are seeing, in fact, a rise of extremism from the extreme right and from the extreme left" and suggested that the election might become "a festival of unfounded reproaches against Europe." The Lisbon Treaty , which entered into force on 1 December 2009, provides that

11058-466: The prime ministerial candidate of Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) Ingrida Šimonytė formed a centre-right coalition with two liberal parties. The President of Lithuania is the head of state of the country, elected to a five-year term in a majority vote. Elections take place on the last Sunday no more than two months before the end of current presidential term. To be eligible for election, candidates must be at least 40 years old on

11172-529: The principle of subsidiarity, which believe in solidarity with each other and the peoples of the world." It consists of various national-level political parties in Europe advocating either full political independence ( statehood ), or some form of devolution or self-governance for their country or region. The alliance has generally limited its membership to progressive parties, and therefore, not all European regionalist parties are members of EFA. The EFA stands on

11286-518: The priorities he would have as president: Juncker also set out five priorities on the subject of immigration: Finally he set out three foreign policy objectives: The Common Candidate process of the Party of European Socialists was carried out according to the following timetable: Following the defeat of the Party of European Socialists during the European elections of June 2009 , the PES made

11400-533: The reestablishment of an independent Lithuania. The Great Seimas of Vilnius was held in 1905 and its participants has adopted resolutions which demanded a wide autonomy for Lithuania. During World War I the German Empire annexed Lithuanian territories from the Russian Empire and they became a part of Ober Ost . In 1907, the Lithuanians organized the Vilnius Conference which adopted

11514-511: The representatives of the two leading European political parties: Jean-Claude Juncker of the European People's Party and Martin Schulz of the Party of European Socialists . Four others were open to all nominated lead candidates, while one French-language debate was held between José Bové of the European Green Party and Guy Verhofstadt of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party . No pan-European opinion polls are carried out; however, several institutes compiled predictions of

11628-586: The resolution. The ALDE political party finally decided to discuss candidates at the party's pre-summit meeting at the margins of the 19–20 December European Council. Belgian daily De Standaard and EU news website EurActiv reported during the summit that the ALDE party has appointed Mark Rutte and Christian Lindner as 'mediators' between Rehn and Verhofstadt to work out who would be the candidate. In July 2013 European Green Party (EGP) announced that it would run an open primary online. Open to all inhabitants in

11742-513: The then-ELDR party held in Dublin from 8 to 10 November 2012 did not agree to formally nominate him yet; concerns voiced included the fact that it was considered unlikely that Verhofstadt would have a chance of getting elected as President of the European Commission, as Anders Fogh Rasmussen (the incumbent Secretary General of NATO ) was expected to be appointed to the post of President of the European Council or High Representative of

11856-620: The threat of the extreme right". As Alexis Tsipras will therefore be the only candidate for the job, the Council has mandated the Presidency of the EL to consult all members and observers parties of the EL and the GUE/NGL group in the European parliament about this application. Tsipras's candidature was confirmed on 15 December. Alexis Tsipras was elected. On 2 December 2013 in Rome, the Council of

11970-404: The three mainstream parties (EPP, PES, ALDE) expected to collectively gain 63% of the vote, a 10% loss since 2009. The Economist estimated in January 2014 that "anti-EU populists of the left and right could take between 16% and 25% of the parliament's seats, up from 12% today." Euromoney predicted "anti-EU populists and nationalists" winning around 150 seats in the parliament, almost 20% of

12084-463: The total. A Policy Network article from February 2014 suggested that despite the media focus on anti-EU parties, they "will undoubtedly remain modest compared to" other mainstream parties, but "their growth and their intentions to cooperate, signify important changes for the EU and European politics." In several countries, far-right and right-wing populist parties were expected to be in contention to poll

12198-402: The true meaning of the name is unknown and scholars still debate it. There are a few plausible versions. Since Lietuva has a suffix (- uva ), there should be a corresponding original word with no suffix. A likely candidate is Lietā . Because many Baltic ethnonyms originated from hydronyms , linguists have searched for its origin among local hydronyms. Usually, such names evolved through

12312-492: The union over the age of 16 who "support green values", this resulted in Ska Keller and José Bové being elected candidates. Other qualified candidates were Rebecca Harms and Monica Frassoni . Meeting on 19 October 2013 in Madrid, the Council of chairpersons of the Party of the European Left (EL) decided to designate a common candidate for the president of the European Commission to prevent "the forces responsible for

12426-494: The vice presidents. Each team is composed of a core membership in addition to members who may fall under its respective umbrella as needed. Timmermans and Georgieva both oversee all commissioners while the remaining five project teams are as follows: In 2015, when European migrant crisis unfolded, new project team was formed. 2014 European Parliament election José Manuel Barroso EPP Jean-Claude Juncker EPP The 2014 European Parliament election

12540-546: Was elected on 26 May 2019 by unanimously winning in all municipalities of Lithuania in the second election round. He was re-elected in 2024, winning more than 74% of the run-off votes. The judges of the Constitutional Court ( Konstitucinis Teismas ) serve nine-year terms. The court is renewed by a third every three years. The judges are appointed by the Seimas, on the nomination of the President, Chairman of

12654-723: Was crowned as the Catholic King of Lithuania . Moreover by taking advantage of the weakened territory of the former Kievan Rus' due to the Mongol invasion , Mindaugas incorporated Black Ruthenia into Lithuania. After Mindaugas' assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was again a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and Livonian Order . Traidenis during his reign (1269–1282) reunified all Lithuanian lands and achieved military successes against

12768-510: Was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979 , and the first in which the European political parties fielded candidates for President of the Commission . The candidates, sometimes referred to by the German term Spitzenkandidaten (English: top candidates), were Jean-Claude Juncker for

12882-517: Was organized which unified the Klaipėda Region with Lithuania. The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état replaced the democratically elected government and president with an authoritarian regime led by Antanas Smetona . In the late 1930s Lithuania has accepted the 1938 Polish ultimatum , 1939 German ultimatum and transferred the Klaipėda Region to Nazi Germany and following the beginning of

12996-503: Was the largest country in Europe. In 1386, the Grand Duchy entered into a de facto personal union with the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland . The two realms were united into the bi-confederal Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, forming one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries gradually dismantled it between 1772 and 1795, with

#438561