POLAND/LITHUANIA:UPDATE: Bad Blood Between Neighbors Heating-Up.

REUTERS/ By Gabriela Baczynska /
   Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski (pictured) has bluntly criticized Lithuania before the EU saying it was failing to live up to its commitments to ethnic Poles or to Polish investors.
    Warsaw is distressed that Vilnius won't address treatment of the 6-7% Polish minority there and a Polish-owned refinery in Lithuania.
    "Poland was a strong supporter of Lithuania's EU and NATO bids and continued to be a loyal partner ever since. But we are not getting reciprocal treatment," said analyst Eugeniusz Smolar.
   28 OCT:      Lithuania has responded. On the radio, Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius called Sikorski's criticisms “hurtful” and “unfounded” accusations.
     FOR MORE,  SEE : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-28/lithuania-says-poland-making-hurtful-accusations-as-ethnic-row-escalates.html

THE BALTICS: Lithuanian Moxy Nabs IBM Investment And Jobs.

BLOOMBERG/ By Ott Ummelas and Milda Seputyte/
    Lithuania is now setting the pace for foreign investments in the Baltic states. In a fresh example, IBM yesterday decided to set up a research center there. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius (pictured) is credited as acting as what some are calling its “investment czar."
     Estonia has been the region's leader in foreign direct investment, with $16.2 billion, followed by Lithuania's $13.8 billion, then by Latvia’s $11.7 billion.

LITHUANIA: Accused Of Having Secret CIA Prisons.

NYTIMES/
Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius accused the CIA of establishing two small clandestine and illegal prisons outside of civilan control inside Lithuania. The scandal has shaken the nation's political system and the security services. The intelligence chief has already resigned.

LITHUANIA: Won't Follow "Painful" Euro Adoption Policy.

BLOOMBERG/
Lithuania won’t adhere to a “painful” euro adoption schedule that would kill demand and hurt the economy, said Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.
It will probably fail to comply with the EU's excessive deficit procedure, which calls on the government to bring the gap within 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2011. Lithuania's economy contracted 14.3 percent last quarter even as it pushed budget cuts equivalent to 8 percent of GDP this year.

Lithuania Seeks US Reassurance After Missile Shield Decision.

BLOOMBERG/
Lithuania,the largest of the three Baltic states to break free from the Soviet Union and join NATO after the Cold War, views the end of missile shield proposal with alarm.
“The United States administration should know that in central Europe, the feelings are very simple, we are waiting for some kind of reassurance,” said Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius.