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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:…

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Lithuania: PM urges to rename Taiwanese Representative Office

Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene called for renaming the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius to “Taipei Representative Office” instead, BNS reports. She argued that the decision to open the Taiwanese representation under its current name was a “hasty step,” suggesting that the mistake be corrected. However, such a move would not be a quick decision…

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Baltic: Corruption clearly lowest in Estonia in 2025: report

Corruption remained considerably lower in Estonia than in Latvia and Lithuania in 2025, according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, ERR reports. Estonia ranked 12th on the index, which was up from 13th place in 2024, BNS reported. Meanwhile, Lithuania came in on 28th (32nd) and Latvia on 37th (38th) place, LSM reported. Estonia scored 76…

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Lithuania: Opposition party backs chair amid corruption probe

Lithuania’s opposition Union of Democrats for Lithuania (DSVL) retains its trust in the party chairman, Saulius Skvernelis, DSVL’s deputy chairman, MEP Virginijus Sinkevicius, stated, ELTA reports. Earlier, Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service (STT) searched the homes and offices of Skvernelis and another opposition MP, Kazys Starkevicius, as part of an investigation into large-scale corruption at the…

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Lithuania: Two opposition MPs implicated in corruption case

Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service (STT) has searched the offices and homes of two prominent opposition MPs, Saulius Skvernelis and Kazys Starkevicius, as part of a corruption probe, BNS reports. STT suspects transport companies of paying bribes totalling around EUR 1.5mn to officials at the State Plant Service (VATZUM) in exchange for phytosanitary certificates. The agency’s…

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Latvia: Pro-Russian opposition party may be dissolved

Latvia’s pro-Russian opposition party, For Stability, may be dissolved, LETA reports. Earlier, the Latvian Prosecution Office (LRP) ordered For Stability to remove social media content that violated regulations on political parties. The law prohibits political parties from acting against the independence or territorial integrity of Latvia or other democratic states, advocating for the violent overthrow…

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