Estonia’s Minister of Defence, Hanno Pevkur, has approved a defence plan for 2024-2027 to increase the country’s military capabilities and defence forces, ERR reports. Pevkur said that Estonia would acquire “significantly more and better weapons, ammunition, and equipment,” as well as invest in people and infrastructure. The defence plans include investments in the Ämari Air…
Latvia’s Riga City Council has obliged owners of outdoor sales and catering establishments to ensure that their sound equipment and musical instruments do not disturb local residents, LSM reports. Under the new rules, municipal police can impose limits on loud music in outdoor cafés, bars, and similar establishments. Violations can lead to fines of up…
Latvia’s Latvians and Russian-speakers continue to hold completely opposite views on the war in Ukraine, according to an SKDS poll for Ir magazine, LSM reports. The survey showed that 78% of Latvian-speakers supported Ukraine in April 2023, while only 27% of Russian-speakers did so. In mixed households, just 32% supported Ukraine, which was down from…
An overwhelming majority of Lithuanians support the establishment of a register of sex offenders, according to a new Baltijos Tyrimai poll for LRT. The survey showed that 91% of Lithuanians supported the establishment of such a register. Just 4% disagreed, while 5% did not have an opinion. In May 2023, a group of MPs proposed…
Shorter alcohol sale hours in Lithuania have led to a decline in male deaths on Sundays and Mondays, according to a new study, BNS reports. Daumantas Stumbrys, senior researcher at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), found that the mortality rate spiked on Sundays and Mondays, but had decreased to the weekly average since…
The Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGP) remain the country’s most trusted institution, according to a new Baltijos Tyrimai poll for LRT. The survey showed that 76% of respondents had confidence in LGP in June 2023. Another 71% trust the police, followed by the Catholic church with 66%, the president with 66%, the State Social Insurance Fund…
Most Lithuanians see the situation in the country getting worse, according to a new Baltijos Tyrimai poll for LRT. The survey showed that 69% of Lithuanians thought that the situation in the country was deteriorating in June 2023, which was down from 76% a month earlier. Meanwhile, 21% said that the situation was improving, which…
Latvia’s new president, Edgars Rinkevics, will pay an official visit to Lithuania on 19 July 2023, BNS reports. Rinkevics will meet with his Lithuanian counterpart, Gitanas Nauseda, and speaker of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen. The officials will discuss the decisions taken at the NATO summit in Vilnius, regional and energy security, and…
The Baltic States will not be able to decouple their power grids from the Russian-controlled BRELL system ahead of schedule in 2024, Rokas Masiulis, CEO of Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator, Litgrid, stated, BNS reports. He said that the synchronisation process still depended on Estonia’s transmission system operator, Elering, which has said that Estonia will…