Estonia: Bank profits stable in H1/2026
Banks in Estonia made a net profit of EUR 356mn in the first half of…
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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:…
Estonia: Bank profits stable in H1/2026
Banks in Estonia made a net profit of EUR 356mn in the first half of 2026, which was almost the same as a year earlier, according to Taavi Raudsaar, economist at the Bank of Estonia, Baltic News reported. The total loan portfolio of banks amounted to EUR 30.0bn, which was up by more than 8%…
Latvia: Government hears report on airBaltic
The Latvian government held an extraordinary meeting of ministers to discuss the Ministry of Transport’s report on the current situation of the country’s ailing national air carrier, airBaltic, on 30 July 2026, LSM reported. The government nominated the State Treasury to represent the state at airBaltic’s bondholder meeting on 3 August 2026. At the meeting,…
Lithuania: Former PM Kazimira Prunskiene dies
Lithuania’s first prime minister after the restoration of the country’s independence, Kazimira Prunskiene, has died at the age of 83, BNS reports. She joined the Lithuanian Communist Party in 1980, was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, and helped establish the country’s pro-independence movement, Sajudis. She was appointed prime minister…
Latvia: Interior Minister urges investigation of police chief
Latvia’s Interior Minister, Janis Dombrava, has called for an internal investigation of State Police chief Armands Ruks, LSM reports. Earlier, an off-duty police officer killed a man in Priekule and another police officer caused a road traffic accident near Aizkraukle, both while severely intoxicated, LETA and LSM reported. Speaking in an interview with TV3, Dombrava…
Estonia: GDP up 2.1% in Q2/2026: flash estimate
Estonia’s GDP rose by 2.1% in the second quarter of 2026, compared to the same period of 2025, according to Statistics Estonia’s flash estimate, ERR reported. Compared to the first quarter of 2026, the seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP rose by 0.4%. Tõnu Mertsina, chief economist at Swedbank, said that current estimates showed that Estonia’s…
Lithuania: Stricter sanctions on Russians, Belarusians proposed
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has proposed expanding national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens, BNS reports. Under the proposed draft legislation, Russian and Belarusian individuals and organisations would be barred from public cultural or sports events in Lithuania if they have operated in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, directly or indirectly support the war against Ukraine, or…
Latvia: Bank profits down 9%, assets up 10.5% in H1/2026
Latvian banks reported combined profits of EUR 181.2mn in the first half of 2026, which was down 9.3% from EUR 199.7mn in the same period of 2025, according to data from the Bank of Latvia, LETA reports. The total assets of Latvia’s monetary financial institutions amounted to EUR 32.675bn at the end of June 2026,…
Estonia: EU official enters presidential race
European Commission official Maive Rute has announced that she is willing to run for president of Estonia, ERR reports. Currently, Rute serves as deputy director-general of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, and Entrepreneurship (DG GROW). Her name was first mentioned as a possible presidential candidate by former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves in…
Baltic: Farms employ thousands of foreigners yearly
Around 5,000 third‑country nationals come to Estonia every year for seasonal work, mostly on farms, according to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), ERR reports. Most seasonal workers come from Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan, India, and Georgia. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, many seasonal workers came from Belarus as well, but Estonia has since…