Lithuania: New government may reopen ties with Belarus
Lithuania’s incoming new coalition government may try to resume official dialogue with neighbouring Belarus on…
Read Less, Know More
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: New government may reopen ties with Belarus
Lithuania’s incoming new coalition government may try to resume official dialogue with neighbouring Belarus on reopening transport links and trade, The Baltic Sentinel reports. Political analyst Vytautas Bruveris noted that many rural voters of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) and the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens (LVZS), especially in eastern Lithuania, were tired…
Latvia: Train company to sue over train delivery delays
Latvia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Pasazieru Vilciens (Vivi), will impose a contractual penalty of EUR 5.7mn on the Czech rolling stock manufacturer, Skoda Vagonka, LETA reports. Vivi board chairman Raitis Nespors explained that the penalties were due to delays in the delivery of new electric trains, failure to rectify identified defects on time, and other…
Estonia: Presidential election may move to electoral college
Estonian political analysts said that the country’s parliament, the Riigikogu, was unlikely to agree on the election of a new president, ERR reported. The election was therefore likely to move to the electoral college, the analysts said. Both Tarmo Jüristo, head of the Liberal Citizen Foundation (SALK), and Tõnis Saarts, associate professor of comparative politics…
Lithuania: Lithuania offers to mediate in Polish-Ukrainian row
Lithuania has offered to mediate in an escalating diplomatic dispute between Poland and Ukraine related to the history of the Second World War, BNS reported. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renamed a military unit in honour of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which was associated with the massacres of up to 100,000 Polish civilians during…
Latvia: Third of drivers admit drunk driving
A third of Latvian car drivers admit driving under the influence of alcohol, according to a new Norstat survey carried out in April 2026, LETA reported. The survey showed that 32% of respondents admitted to drinking and driving sometimes, which was up from 31% a year earlier. As many as 42% (41%) of men and…
Estonia: Parliament ratifies prison leasing deal with Sweden
The Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has approved amendments allowing prisoners from other countries to be housed in Estonian prisons, ERR reported. At the same time, the parliament ratified a prison leasing agreement with Sweden. Earlier, the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, ratified the agreement, ERR reported. Under the deal, Sweden can send up to 600 adult…
Baltic: Hourly labour costs up most in Lithuania in Q1/2026
Hourly labour costs in the Baltic States rose the fastest in Lithuania in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat data, ELTA reported. Nominal hourly labour costs in the whole economy rose by 8.6% in Lithuania, 6.2% in Estonia, and 2.3% in Latvia from the first quarter of 2025. Hourly wage costs alone went…
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…