Baltic: Road traffic safer in Estonia than in Latvia, Lithuania
Road traffic safety is much better in Estonia than in Latvia and Lithuania, according to…
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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:…
Baltic: Road traffic safer in Estonia than in Latvia, Lithuania
Road traffic safety is much better in Estonia than in Latvia and Lithuania, according to data from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, ERR reports. Estonia had altogether 43 road deaths in 2025, which was 38% fewer than in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of road fatalities rose by 5% to 118 in Latvia…
Lithuania: US push to ship Belarusian potash
US officials have pressured Lithuania to allow exports of EU-sanctioned Belarusian potash fertilisers via the port of Klaipeda, Politico reports. European officials said that the US special envoy to Belarus, John Coale, has been lobbying Lithuanian authorities on all levels about the issue for more than a year. US officials have also raised the possibility…
Latvia: Unregistered SIM cards to be banned
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed amendments banning unregistered SIM cards as of 1 September 2027, LSM reports. Under the amendments, users of pay-as-you-go SIM cards will also have to register their personal information with the mobile service provider. The Ministry of Interior noted that unregistered SIM cards are often used in telephone fraud,…
Estonia: Bank profits up 9% on year in M9/2026
Banks in Estonia generated an aggregate profit of EUR 539mn in the first nine months of 2026, which was up around EUR 42mn (9%) from the same period of 2025, according to data from the Bank of Estonia, ERR reports. Kristjan Mäe, economist at the Bank of Estonia, said that the increase in bank profits…
Lithuania: GDP up 2.3% in Q3/2026: statistics
Lithuania’s GDP totalled EUR 24.4bn at current prices in the third quarter of 2026, according to the State Data Agency’s (VDA) first estimate, BNS reports. Compared to the same period of 2025, the seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP rose by 2.3%. However, compared to the second quarter of 2026, the GDP contracted by 1.0%. Construction,…
Latvia: Estonia’s Agrone acquires biggest dairy group
Estonia’s leading agricultural group, Agrone, has completed the acquisition of 100% of shares in Latvia’s largest dairy group, Food Union Management, LSM reports. Agrone acquired the shares from Food Union Luxembourg Holdings II for an undisclosed price. The Food Union group includes Rigas Piena Kombinats and Valmieras Piens, which produce some of Latvia’s best-known fresh…
Estonia: GDP up 2.2% in Q3/2026: flash estimate
Estonia’s GDP growth reached 2.2% in the third quarter of 2026 compared to the same period of 2025, according to Statistics Estonia’s flash estimate, ERR reported. Compared with the second quarter of 2026, the seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP grew by 0.6%. Robert Müürsepp, national accounts service manager at Statistics Estonia, said that several indicators…
Baltic: US urges Baltics to pipe down on Russia
US defence officials urged the Baltic States to tone down their rhetoric on the threat posed by Russia, arguing that some statements had undermined European security, Reuters reported. One of the US officials was Elbridge Colby, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy at the US Defence Department, who insisted on not “poking” Russia. He pointed…
Baltic: Rail Baltica seeks another EUR 360mn of EU funds
The Baltic joint venture, RB Rail, has submitted a new application to the European Commission for an additional EUR 357.5mn in funding from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the Rail Baltica railway project, BNS reports. The European Commission and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency are expected to announce their decisions on…