Why Lithuania is considering sending soldiers to Ukraine

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Good morning.

Today, the Prime Minister of Lithuania explains to my colleague why her country is ready to put forces on the ground in Ukraine. And we have a dispatch from the student protests spreading across Europe and demanding that universities cut ties with Israel, since continues its attack on Gaza.

We will be taking a break until next week due to the Ascension holiday. Have a great long weekend.

Not Ready

Lithuania is prepared to send its soldiers to Ukraine on a training mission, its prime minister says counted Andy Limites.

Context: Lithuania, which declared independence from Moscow in 1990, wants to strengthen its military support for Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron proposed send European soldiers to Ukraine, although other countries have been cautious to provoke a direct confrontation with Russia.

Ingrida Šimonytė told the FT that she had parliamentary permission to send troops to Ukraine for training purposes – something her government has suggested before – but that Kiev had not yet requested this.

Šimonytė acknowledged that Russia would consider this a provocation, but added: “If we only thought about the Russian response, we would not be able to send anything. Every two weeks you hear that someone is going to be attacked.”

This week, Russia conducted tactical nuclear weapons exercises in response to Macron’s comments. Šimonytė doubted that the weapons would be used, given that the radioactive fallout would also reach Russia. “Most of the time the winds blow from west to east,” she noted dryly.

According to Šimonytė, Russia has intensified attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, such as power plants, schools and hospitals. “Russia is trying to provoke a new wave of people fleeing Ukraine because there are no basic services or services,” said the Lithuanian prime minister.

The EU hosts more than 4.2 million refugees from Ukraine. But more than two years of warpeople in some European countries are increasingly critical of support given to the Ukrainians.

Šimonytė downplayed reports that Lithuania was helping return men of fighting age to Ukraine, which is Desperately trying to recruit more soldiers. “We will not organize deportations, nor look for Ukrainian men in the country because that would not be legal,” said Šimonytė, adding that the EU guaranteed them protection until March 2025.

However, those Kiev proves to have avoided military service could be denied permanent residency, Šimonytė said. She was “willing to help Ukraine, to ensure that it has the potential to renew its armed forces and to allow people who have been fighting for a long time to rest.”

Chart of the day: still hot

As we witness yet another period of record temperatures – and unusually wet weather in parts of Europe – scientists are warning of more extreme weather patterns around the world, with heatwaves, droughts and floods becoming more common.

Free universities

Student protests against Israel’s military operations in Gaza have spread across Europe, and as with any good occupation movement, authorities are not exactly thrilled about the disruptions.

Context: The rupture Pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University in New York which began last month has galvanized students across Europe, who are also calling on academic institutions to cut ties with Israel and take a stand in the ongoing conflict.

German police yesterday dispersed several dozen protesters who set up camp at Berlin’s Freie Universität. The university laid charges for trespassing and vandalism, and Berlin’s higher education senator Ina Czyborra said the protests “aimed at confrontation” were not “legitimate.”

Next door in the Netherlands, police broke up a similar protest that day at the University of Amsterdam, detaining several dozen people. In Brussels, students occupied a building from the Free University of the French Language, and police in France have repeatedly expelled protesters from the famous Sciences Po Paris.

This has even caught the attention of French high-ups, with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal warning yesterday against the “selective outrage” that “must stop on the part of those who always raise their voices against Israel, but who have no voice in the face of Hamas and its abuses.”

In Ireland, students camped on the grounds of Trinity College Dublin blocked access to the ancient manuscript of the Book of Kells stored there. Trinity said it stands “in solidarity with students in our horror at what is happening in Gaza” and that it seeks to end investment in Israeli companies. But it also fined Trinity Students’ Union €214,000 for lost revenue due to the “disruptive” protests.

Camps and protests have also emerged at universities in Austria, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.

What to watch today

1. Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Hungary.

2. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

3. Finnish President Alexander Stubb visits Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

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