Lithuania should aim to raise its defence budget to 4% of GDP, Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas stated, BNS reports. He said that this would allow Lithuania to maintain existing capabilities and acquire long-range air defence systems and combat helicopters. Earlier, President Gitanas Nauseda urged to raise defence spending to at least 3.5% of GDP. Lithuania’s…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics will pay a visit to the US on 17-27 September 2024, LSM reports. He will lead a Latvian trade delegation to California, visiting major technology companies, including Google, Groq, Meta, and OpenAI, as well as NASA’s Ames Research Center. Also, Rinkevics will take part in a roundtable discussion at Stanford University….
A total of 544,800 households in Estonia, or 92.9% of all households, have used the internet in 2024, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. The most common services used on the internet are online banking (90.4%) and email (89.7%). Another 88% of people use the internet to look for information about products or…
This week, Baltic leaders visited Ukraine, urging allies to lift all arms restrictions. In Estonia, informal talks have begun on the next president, as the government plans to raise taxes. Latvia intends to borrow more and imposes more restrictions on Russians and Belarusians, while talks continue on the national air carrier. Lithuania’s Finance Ministry raises…
Lithuania had the highest suicide rate in the Baltic States in 2021, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. Lithuania had 19.5 deaths by suicide per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021, which was the second-highest rate in the entire EU. The suicide rate stood at 14.01 in Estonia and 13.38 in Latvia. All three Baltic States thus…
US electric car maker Tesla has opened its first pop-up store in Lithuania, BNS reports. The store is located at the Akropolis shopping mall in Vilnius. The company plans to open a permanent store and service centre in Vilnius in early 2025, Invest Lithuania reported. Tesla’s Dutch arm, Tesla International, established a subsidiary in Lithuania…
Latvia’s banking association, Finance Latvia Association (FNA), opposes a proposed windfall tax on local banks, LETA reports. The association argued that the tax was “disproportionate, short-sighted, and nontransparent.” FNA warned that the tax would have negative long-term consequences, hampering Latvia’s growth, competitiveness, and attractiveness for private investment. The tax would oblige the financial sector to…
One of Estonia’s wealthiest businessmen, Margus Linnamäe, will buy out his business partner, Ivar Vendelin, in the Apollo and MM Group investment companies, ERR reports. Vendelin will focus on real estate investments instead. Following the transaction, Apollo will be fully owned by MM Group. Linnamäe will own 98% and lawyer Aare Kurist the remaining 2%…
Lithuania has joined the US-led international initiative on strengthening cyber security, BNS reports. The initiative aims to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware. Lithuania is the first of the three Baltic States to join the initiative, which was first announced at the second Summit for Democracy.