Estonia’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, has asked the Supreme Court to declare the country’s new car tax unconstitutional, ERR reports. Madise argued that current legislation was in conflict with the Constitution as it did not allow refunding the motor vehicle registration fee in exceptional cases, such as when the vehicle was stolen, destroyed, or…
Newly released documents connected to the convicted US human trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, include numerous mentions related to the Baltic States. Several documents refer to travel arrangements to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Estonian World reports. Many messages refer, often in sexualised context, to women that Epstein or his associates had met in the Baltic States. Latvia…
Power plants in Estonia generated 3,619 GWh of electricity from renewable sources in 2025, which was up 7% from 2024, according to transmission system operator Elering, ERR reports. Renewable energy accounted for 68% of total electricity production and covered 41% of total electricity consumption in 2025. Electricity production from wind power amounted to 1,324 GWh…
Latvian monetary financial institutions (MFIs), mainly banks, generated an aggregate profit of EUR 341.7mn in 2025, which was down 34.5% from EUR 521.4mn in 2024, according to the Bank of Latvia, LETA reports. MFIs had assets totalling EUR 31.687bn at the end of 2025, which was up 5.9% from EUR 29.913bn a year earlier. The…
More Lithuanian citizens moved back to Lithuania than emigrated for the sixth consecutive year in 2025, according to the State Data Agency (VDA), BNS reports. A total of 18,155 Lithuanian citizens returned to the country in 2025, which was down from 18,934 in 2024. At the same time, 9,669 Lithuanian citizens emigrated, which was up…
Gross domestic expenditure on research and development (R&D) in relation to GDP in the Baltic States was highest in Estonia in 2024, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. R&D spending amounted to 1.99% of GDP in Estonia in 2024, which was up from 1.41% in 2014. Meanwhile, R&D expenditure stood at 1.04% (1.03%) of GDP…
Lithuania’s real GDP totalled EUR 84bn at current prices in 2025, which was up 2.7% from 2024, according to seasonally and calendar-adjusted data from the State Data Agency (VDA), BNS reported. According to unadjusted data, the country’s GDP rose by 2.8% on year. Gross value added grew by 3.2% in industry, 3% in services, 2.1%…
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, intends to increase its presence in neighbouring Lithuania, according to the company’s new CEO, Erno Hildén, BNS reports. He said that the airline had plans for new destinations and more frequent flights, particularly to and from Vilnius. While acknowledging that airBaltic was facing significant financial challenges, Hildén vowed that his…
A member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) died while on duty near the Latvian capital, Riga, on 29 January 2026, LSM reported. Gunner Sebastian Halmagean was deployed in Latvia as part of a Canadian-led NATO brigade. He had served in the CAF for almost three years, and this was his first overseas deployment.