Via Baltica

Lithuania: Government declares emergency over smuggler balloons

The Lithuanian government has declared a nationwide emergency situation in response to repeated incursions of smuggler balloons from neighbouring Belarus into Lithuanian airspace, BNS reports. At the same time, the government proposed that the parliament, the Seimas, grant the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGP) extended powers to assist law enforcement for three months. The balloon incursions…

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Baltic: Business profit share highest in Lithuania in 2024: Eurostat

The profit share of non-financial corporations in the Baltic States was highest in Lithuania in 2024, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. The profit share of non-financial corporations in Lithuania stood at 41.6%, followed by Estonia with 40.0% and Latvia with 35.6%. The EU average was 40.1%. The business profit share is defined as gross…

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Lithuania: Ekspress Grupp’s deadline to sell news site postponed again

Lithuania’s Competition Council has again postponed a deadline for the Estonian media group, Ekspress Grupp, to sell off the Lithuanian news website, lrytas.lt, to new owners, BNS reports. The council gave Ekspress Grupp until 7 January 2026 to sell the website. In February 2025, the competition authority ordered the group to sell one of its…

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Latvia: Parliament to discuss stricter regulation against financial fraud

The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, will begin work on legislation to improve consumer protection against financial fraud, Anda Caksa, chairwoman of the parliament’s budget and finance committee, announced, LETA reports. Speaking after a meeting with representatives of the Finance Latvia Association (FNA), Caksa said that legislative changes were needed so as to require mobile operators…

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Estonia: Europe must stand firm in Ukraine: official

Europe has finally received the message, “loud and clear,” from successive US presidents that Europeans must take responsibility for their own security, Jonatan Vseviov, secretary general of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, said, ERR reports. He insisted that Europe must stand firm behind the principles that have made the current European security order possible — territorial…

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Lithuania: UNHCR urges to end migrant pushbacks

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urges Lithuania to reconsider its policy of turning back irregular migrants at the border with Belarus, BNS reports. Annika Sandlund, UNHCR representative to the Nordic and Baltic countries, said that Lithuania should review its emergency legislation that allows pushbacks. Even though irregular migrants were being used for…

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