Baltic: Pro-Russian activists flee to Belarus
Two pro-Russian activists facing criminal liability in Latvia and Lithuania, Aleksejs Roslikovs and Antanas Kandrotas,…
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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: 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…
Estonia: Conservatives, Centre top poll in June 2026
Estonia’s national-conservative opposition party, Fatherland, remained the most popular political party in June 2026 with 23.5% support, which was largely unchanged from 24% in May 2026, according to Emor’s latest poll, ERR reported. The Estonian Centre Party came in second with 21.5% (21%) support, followed by the Social Democratic Party (SDE) with 16.2% (17%) and…
Lithuania: New coalition agreement signed
Three political groups in the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, have signed an agreement on a new coalition government, BNS reports. The new ruling coalition will include the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), the Union of Democrats for Lithuania, and the joint parliamentary group of the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens and the Electoral Action…
Latvia: NATO deploys troops to eastern Latvia
The Canadian-led NATO Multinational Brigade will expand its presence to eastern Latvia, deploying troops in the city of Daugavpils for the first time, LSM reported. Allied forces will be stationed permanently elsewhere in the eastern Latgale region as well, according to the Latvian Defence Ministry’s news portal, Sargs.lv. Also, Danish Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus announced…