ELTA brief: criticism of Popovienė, storm losses, drones over Latvia and Estonia

President Gitanas Nausėda says Lithuania’s education system faces many challenges. He has questioned whether Education, Science and Sports Minister Raminta Popovienė is trying to appear to solve them rather than addressing them directly.

Nausėda did not answer directly when asked whether he still trusted the minister’s work. Popovienė said she respected the president’s opinion but did not feel that she was merely imitating work. She suggested that his criticism concerned the cancellation of the tenth-grade Basic Education Achievement Test. Nausėda also said he expected to meet her soon.

The new school year has begun in Lithuania, with the president, prime minister, ministers and other politicians greeting students and the education community. New rules govern mobile-phone use in schools, sports classes are opening, and a program will strengthen teachers’ emotional competencies. Primary schools serving national minorities will increase the number of Lithuanian-language lessons, while the Education Ministry has revised parts of the general curriculum.

The Lithuanian Polish Election Action, Christian Families Alliance plans to put forward Waldemar Urban as its candidate for mayor of Vilnius district. Party leader Waldemar Tomaszewski said the party had not formally nominated mayoral candidates, but generally intends to renominate candidates who matched or exceeded their 2019 results in 2023. He said Urban received more than 20,000 votes in Vilnius district on March 5, 2023.

The Aug. 22 storm has generated almost 14,000 insurance claims, according to Andrius Romanovskis of the Lithuanian Insurers’ Association. Damage has exceeded 13 million euros, with about 80% involving residents’ property. Insurers had processed and paid 50% to 70% of registered claims, depending on the company, while new reports were slowing. The roundup also lists drones over Latvian and Estonian airspace, Russia’s mass attack on Kyiv, more than 1,000 flood deaths on the Nepal-Tibet border, and the oath of Norway’s new king.