Estonia’s population totalled 1,360,745 people in the beginning of 2026, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reported. The number of ethnic Estonians amounted to 932,603 people (68.5%) and Russians to 276,125 people (20.2%) of the total population. People of other ethnic nationalities numbered 146,619 (10.8%), including 75,250 (5.5%) Ukrainians, 11,477 Belarusians, 8,059 Finns, and 4,272 Latvians….
NATO fighters shot down a drone that had entered Latvian airspace in the early morning hours of 14 August 2026, LSM reported. Two Italian Eurofighter jets based at Lithuania’s Siauliai Air Base and two Turkish F-16 jets from Estonia’s Ämari Air Base were involved in the operation, LSM reported. The drone was destroyed by one…
The leader of the Estonian Reform Party, Prime Minister Kristen Michal, expects Tiit Land, rector of Tallinn University of Technology, to be nominated officially as a candidate for president, ERR reports. He said that Land’s nomination should make the election process in the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, “interesting.” However, Michal said that he supported the…
Representatives of parties in the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, are meeting with the two leading presidential candidates, Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise and Tallinn University of Technology rector Tiit Land, ERR reports. Land met with Fatherland and Estonian Centre Party MPs on 12 August 2026, and Madise will meet with MPs from Fatherland, the Centre…
The Baltic States and Poland are preparing for possible Russian false-flag attacks against critical infrastructure, Reuters reports. Authorities have increased security measures at power and energy infrastructure facilities. A Baltic intelligence official expressed worry that a Russian attack could trigger “political chaos” at NATO headquarters and in allied capitals on how to respond. Latvia’s Constitution…
Latvia’s national airline, airBaltic, will reduce flights from Lithuania in winter 2026/2027, BNS reports. The company will suspend flights from Vilnius to Berlin and Dubai, and from Palanga to Tenerife. Also, airBaltic will have less flights from Vilnius to Tallinn. Edvards Dalderis, spokesman of airBaltic, insisted that the reductions were not related to the company’s…
Estonia’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, has confirmed that she is ready to run for president if there is sufficient support in the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, for her candidacy, parliamentary speaker Lauri Hussar announced, ERR reports. Speaking after a meeting of the parliament’s council of elders, Hussar said that parties would now begin collecting…
Estonia’s two-party ruling coalition has lost its majority in the parliament, the Riigikogu, after two MPs resigned from their parties, ERR reports. Meelis Kiili of the Estonian Reform Party and Kalev Stoicescu of Estonia 200 (E200) announced that they were leaving their respective parties. As a result, the coalition now has 50 votes in the…
Estonia’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, said that she would “seriously consider” running for president if there was sufficient support for her candidacy in parliament, ERR reports. Madise noted that as head of an independent constitutional institution, she cannot put herself forward as a candidate. The chancellor of justice “does not and cannot associate herself…
