Lithuania: PM Ruginiene’s government resigns
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene and her government have resigned from office, BNS reports. Ruginiene…
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Welcome to Via Baltica, your “information superhighway” for news from the three Baltic tigers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania! Our founder and editor-in-chief is Kerkko Paananen, senior news analyst with more than two decades of professional expertise in covering and reporting on current affairs in the Baltic States. We aim to do one thing well:…
Lithuania: PM Ruginiene’s government resigns
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene and her government have resigned from office, BNS reports. Ruginiene was appointed prime minister in September 2025 after the resignation of then prime minister Gintautas Paluckas, leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP). Ruginiene revealed that the plan at the time was for LSDP’s new chairman, Mindaugas Sinkevicius, to…
Latvia: No residence permits for Russian, Belarusian investors
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed amendments blocking investors from Russia and Belarus from obtaining temporary residence permits in Latvia, LETA reports. The amendments close a legal loophole that allowed Russian and Belarusian investors to obtain residence permits through an investment programme for alternative investment fund managers. Meanwhile, a parliamentary commission recommended setting quotas…
Estonia: President not to run for second term
Estonian President Alar Karis announced that he would not run for a second term in office, ERR reported. He said that he had made the decision a long time ago and cited personal reasons. One reason was that he had promised his family that he would only serve one term, Karis explained. The chairman of…
Baltic: Pro-Russian activists flee to Belarus
Two pro-Russian activists facing criminal liability in Latvia and Lithuania, Aleksejs Roslikovs and Antanas Kandrotas, have fled to neighbouring Belarus, LRT reports. Roslikovs, a former member of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, and former member of the Riga city council representing the pro-Russian For Stability party, has been charged in Latvia with incitement of national…
Lithuania: China allowed to reopen diplomatic office
Lithuania has agreed to allow China to open a chargé d’affaires office in the country, Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, revealed, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Motuzas said that the move was a “slight bow” to China and that business was “very…
Latvia: Supreme Court reopens digital TV case
Latvia’s Supreme Court has annulled the Riga Regional Court’s decision to acquit all defendants in the so-called second digital TV criminal case, LETA reports. The defendants include former transport minister Ainars Slesers, chairman of the populist Latvia First (LPV) party, former prime minister, prominent businessman Andris Skele, as well as several former executives at the…
Estonia: New power links to Finland, Latvia to be built by 2040
Estonia’s state-owned transmission system operator, Elering, plans to build new undersea electricity interconnections with Finland and Latvia by 2040, ERR reports. Priit Heinla, head of offshore grid development at Elering, said that investment decisions on the two projects could be made in 2031-2033. Elering expects electricity prices to remain lower in the Nordic countries. Therefore,…
Lithuania: Social Democrats top poll in May 2026
Lithuania’s ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) remained the country’s most popular political party in May 2026, according to a new Baltijos Tyrimai poll for ELTA. LSDP’s support stood at 13%, which was up from 12.4% in April 2026. The opposition conservative Homeland Union (TS-LKD) came in second with 12.3% (11.4%), followed by the Lithuanian…
Latvia: Diesel tax cut extended until end of 2026
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved amendments extending a reduced excise tax rate on diesel fuel until the end of 2026, LSM reports. The diesel tax was lowered from EUR 467 to EUR 396 per 1,000 litres and for marked diesel fuel used in agriculture from EUR 70 to EUR 21 per 1,000 litres…