Estonia’s Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) has refused to extend the residence permit of Metropolitan Eugene (Valery Reshetnikov) of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, ERR reports. The head of the Russian church in Estonia will therefore have to leave the country by 6 February 2024. Despite repeated warnings, Reshetnikov has continued…
The defence ministers of the Baltic States have signed an agreement on building “anti-mobility defensive installations” on their borders with Russia and Belarus, Estonia’s Defence Ministry announced, ERR reports. The Baltic defence line will include bunkers, support points, and distribution lines. Estonia plans to begin building the bunkers in early 2025. The number of bunkers…
The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) has not found any more Lithuanian citizens with family ties to individuals subject to EU sanctions, BNS reports. LMD checked 3,571 individuals on sanctions lists and found that none of them or their spouses or children currently hold Lithuanian citizenship. LMD director Evelina Gudzinskaite said that earlier information, which indicated…
Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) has identified 985 Russian citizens who did not comply with the law on immigration and may therefore have to leave the country, LETA reports. The persons have two weeks to respond to notifications urging them to legalise their status. Some of the persons may already have left…
Estonia’s population totalled 1,366,491 people in the beginning of 2024, which was 607 more than a year earlier, according to Statistics Estonia’s preliminary data, BNS reports. The number of live births totalled 10,721 in 2023, which was 925 less than in 2022. The number of births was the lowest since 1919, when population data began…
The Baltic States support banning the import of grain from Russia and Belarus into the EU, according to the Lithuanian Transport Minister, Marius Skuodis, BNS reports. He discussed the issue with Latvian Transport Minister Kaspars Briskens and Estonian Climate Minister Kristen Michal. The ministers agreed to coordinate actions and avoid national initiatives. Earlier, Skuodis noted…
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has awarded EUR 100,000 in compensation to Saudi Arabian national Mustafa Al-Hawsawi for his unlawful detention at a secret CIA prison in Lithuania in 2005-2006, BNS reports. The court found that Lithuania was responsible for violating Al-Hawsawi’s rights. Lithuania will comply with the ECHR ruling and pay the…
Hong Kong-based investment firm PAG Private Equity will acquire full control of Latvia’s Food Union Group, which produces ice cream and other frozen foods, LSM reports. PAG expects to complete the transaction in the first quarter of 2024. Food Union will continue under present management and business structure. PAG has been an investor in Food…
Estonia’s state-owned national airline, Nordica, will cease operations, ERR reports. Climate Minister Kristen Michal said that the government would allocate EUR 14.5mn to Tallinn Airport to ensure competitive fees and secure important routes. Another option is for the government to begin procuring direct flights to key destinations. The Ministry of Climate has contacted seven potential…