The US Senate has authorised the allocation of USD 228mn (EUR 208mn) of additional funding to strengthen security cooperation with the Baltic States in 2024, LETA reports. Latvian Defence Minister Inara Murniece said that the funding would allow the Baltic States to develop military capabilities and strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank. In 2022,…
Latvia must prepare for Russia’s policy to remain aggressive over the long term, Latvia’s new ambassador to NATO, Maris Riekstins, stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Riekstins said that recent events suggested that Russian leader Vladimir Putin saw extending the war in Ukraine over many years as the only way out of…
A man serving a sentence for attempted murder escaped from Latvia’s Riga Central Prison on 23 July 2023 but was caught within a few hours, LSM reports. Police launched an extensive search for the convict across the country, limiting the movement of persons and searching vehicles leaving Riga. Interior Minister Maris Kucinskis said that road…
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has handed in a diplomatic note to Belarus following the launch of the second power unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelAES) in Astravyets, BNS reports. Lithuania urged Belarus not to operate the second unit until all safety problems have been resolved. The Foreign Ministry noted that Belarus had failed to…
Latvia’s National Alliance, Latvian Association of Regions (LRA), Movement For, and Progressives have failed to reach agreement on reducing the number of deputy mayors in the Riga City Council, LSM reports. The combined political group of Movement For and Progressives wants to cut the number of deputy mayors from the current three to just one,…
Estonia’s GDP continued to decline by around 3% in the second quarter of 2023, according to Statistics Estonia’s flash estimate. The drop in GDP has slowed down slightly compared to previous quarters, however. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, the country’s GDP remained unchanged, according to seasonally and working-day adjusted data.
Annual inflation in Estonia stood at 6.3% in July 2023, which was down from 22.8% a year earlier, according to Statistics Estonia’s preliminary data, ERR reports. Compared to June 2023, consumer prices declined by 0.39%. In June 2023, annual inflation stood at 9.2%.
US-based credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has reaffirmed Latvia’s sovereign credit rating at A-, which is unchanged from the previous rating in February 2023, LSM reports. At the same time, the agency revised its rating outlook from stable to positive. Fitch noted that Latvia had eliminated its dependence on Russian energy imports and reduced non-energy…
Estonian capital Tallinn’s water supplier, Tallinna Vesi, generated sales of EUR 30.01mn in the first half of 2023, which was up 19.8% from EUR 25.05mn in the same period of 2022, GlobeNewswire reports. The company’s gross profit amounted to EUR 11.52mn (up 30.8%), operating profit to EUR 8.20mn (up 34.7%), and net profit to EUR…