The Latvian government plans to restrict the ability of Russian citizens to buy land in Latvia, LETA reports. The ruling three-party coalition has agreed on the plan conceptually, following a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture. The government will analyse the example of similar draft legislation in Finland. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze has discussed…
Estonia’s exports of goods totalled over EUR 1.3bn at current prices in July 2024, which was up 5% from the same period of 2023, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Meanwhile, imports of goods totalled nearly EUR 1.7bn, which was up 1% from a year earlier. Estonia’s trade deficit thus amounted to EUR…
Symbols supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine have appeared on a number of properties in Lithuania’s port city of Klaipeda, according to local police, BNS reports. The letter Z was painted on three cars, on doors, walls, and windows of several buildings, on billboards, and on a church bell. The display of Russian war symbols is…
Members of the Estonia-China friendship group of the Estonian parliament will probably no longer travel to China on trips paid for by the host country, the group’s chairman, MP Toomas Kivimägi of the Estonian Reform Party, stated, ERR reports. Earlier, controversy arose when a group of Estonian MPs paid a visit to China, with costs…
The Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that crashed in Latvia’s eastern Rezekne municipality was an Iranian-designed Shahed drone carrying 90 kg of explosives, the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) announced, LETA reports. The drone’s warhead did not detonate in the crash. NBS deactivated the drone and is now inspecting its components. Janis Garisons, former state…
This is the first ever edition of Baltic Week, our curated free newsletter of top news items from the three Baltic States over the past week (or so). Please note that this new feature will be quite experimental for now, and that this first edition will probably be much longer than subsequent editions. You can…
The Latvia-based commercial bank, Citadele, posted a net profit of EUR 50.9mn in the Baltic States in the first half of 2024, which was down 21% from EUR 64.5mn in the same period of 2023, bne IntelliNews reports. The bank’s operating income rose by 2% to EUR 116.1mn, with interest revenue increasing by 9% to…
Lithuanian mobile telecommunications operator TELE2 was the market leader in mobile voice services in the second quarter of 2024, according to the Communications Regulatory Authority (RRT), Telecompaper reported. TELE2’s market share stood at 45.9% in terms of SIMs used for mobile voice services. The company had over 2 million subscribers, which was up 1.8% from…
Some Lithuanian nationals have joined Russian occupation forces in Ukraine, LRT reports. At least five Lithuanian citizens are known to be fighting for Russia against Ukraine, 15min reports. Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas confirmed that there was “definitely more than one” Lithuanian fighting on the Russian side. He said that the persons were known to Lithuania’s…