"We do not want Bush, NATO and war," read one poster, later removed by police.

Lithuania, together with the other former Soviet Baltic republics of Estonia and Latvia, were among seven eastern European countries invited by NATO this week to join its ranks.

Police detained four young people on Thursday as they tried stick up posters reading: "We do not want NATO and Bush."

Similar protest messages were found sprayed on walls not far from the residence of the Lithuanian president.

Bush was to set arrive in Vilnius late on Friday for talks with the heads of state of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The three states were annexed by Stalin in 1940 and obtained de facto independence again in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

SPACE.WIRE