Lithuania is drawing up a contingency plan in the event that Latvia’s national airline, airBaltic, reduces flights or withdraws entirely from Lithuania, Transport Minister Juras Taminskas announced, BNS reports. Earlier, Latvian Finance Minister Maris Kucinskis said that airBaltic would likely need to reduce its operations. Taminskas said that a sudden suspension of airBaltic’s flights would…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has turned to the State Security Service (VDD) over Hungarian banking group OTP Bank’s plan to acquire the Baltic banking group, Luminor Bank, LSM reports. He noted that the statement of intent on the possible acquisition was just the start of the process, adding that regulatory approval for the deal would…
A group of 30 public figures in Estonia have nominated Indrek Laul, CEO of Estonia Piano Factory, for president, ERR reports. The group behind Laul’s candidacy, which includes prominent entrepreneurs, academics, and cultural figures, stressed the need to bring together “knowledge, culture, and entrepreneurship.” Laul said that he would seek to unite “different worldviews, different…
Lithuania’s budget deficit was the smallest in the Baltic States in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat data, BNS reported. Lithuania’s budget deficit stood at 0.9% of GDP, which was down from 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Estonia’s budget deficit amounted 1.2% (1.3%) and Latvia’s to 1.9% (2.4%) of GDP. Meanwhile,…
Lithuania’s Court of Appeal has found MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis, leader of the far-right populist party, Dawn of Nemunas (PPNA), guilty of antisemitism, BNS reports. The court found that Zemaitaitis had incited hatred against Jews and grossly trivialised the Holocaust, systematically distorting historical facts and making “dehumanising comparisons.” The court ordered the MP to pay a…
The Latvian government is holding talks with 23 potential investors on the acquisition of Swedish telecommunications group Telia’s shares in the Latvian telecommunication companies, Tet and Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT), Economy Minister Viktors Valainis announced, LETA reported. He said that there was strong international interest in the deal and that the transaction was progressing largely…
The US will deploy a new rotational unit of troops in Estonia in summer 2026, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur announced, ERR reported. The unit will stay until the end of 2026, ERR reports. Also, Pevkur said that the US would resume deliveries of ammunition to Estonia “in the coming months,” ERR reported. Pevkur said…
Hungarian banking group OTP Bank’s operations in Russia raise “legitimate questions” about its ​planned acquisition of the Baltic banking group, Luminor Bank, Lithuania’s central bank, the Bank of Lithuania, stated, Reuters reports. Earlier, OTP Bank announced that it had signed an agreement to buy Estonia-based Luminor. The Bank of Lithuania said that the European Central…
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Lithuania to pay damages to a Saudi national who was detained at a secret CIA prison in the country, BNS reports. The court found that the man was held at the so-called black site near Vilnius for more than five months in 2005-2006. The man, who…
