Latvia’s state-owned airline, airBaltic, will open flights on several new routes from the Baltic States and Finland in winter 2023/2024 and summer 2024. The company will open flights from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to Gran Canaria and Tenerife in Spain, Turin in Italy, and Dubai in the UAE in October 2023, LRT reports. In summer…
Around 40 people have left the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) after the election of Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart as the party’s new chairman, ERR reports. The number of resignations may increase later. The Centre Party has over 13,000 registered members. The high-profile people who have left the party include former Tartu mayor and minister Jaan…
Estonia’s Narva City Council has dismissed the city’s mayor, Katri Raik, and appointed city administrator Jelena Golubeva as acting mayor, ERR reports. Altogether 19 out of 31 city councillors voted for the motion of no confidence, which was initiated by Aleksei Jevgrafov of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond). Jevgrafov accused Raik of incompetence and failure to…
Estonia will terminate a legal assistance agreement with Russia, Justice Minister Kalle Laanet announced, ERR reports. The agreement primarily concerns cases under family and commercial law. Laanet noted that the Russian judicial system was political and untrustworthy. Russia made altogether 240 requests for legal assistance in 2022.
Estonia’s current account deficit totalled EUR 284mn in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Bank of Estonia’s flash estimate, ERR reports. The deficit amounted to EUR 13.0mn in April 2023, to EUR 180.3mn in May 2023, and to EUR 90.7mn in June 2023. The quarterly current account deficit stood at 3% of GDP,…
The volume of electricity produced in Estonia totalled 8,910 GWh in 2022, which was 21% more than in 2021, according to data from Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Heat production totalled 5,074 GWh in 2022, which was up 8% from a year earlier. The volume electricity generated from shale oil rose by 42%, accounting for 57%…
Estonia and Latvia have signed a contract to buy IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence systems from Germany’s Diehl Defence, BNS reports. The deal, worth nearly EUR 400mn, is the biggest single defence contract in Estonian history. The procurement will include launchers, radars, fire control centres, and missiles. The first systems are due to be delivered…
An extraordinary congress of the opposition Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) has elected Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart as the party’s new chairman, ERR reports. Kõlvart won with 543 votes against MP Tanel Kiik who received 489 votes. Kõlvart replaced Jüri Ratas, who supported Kiik for his successor. Ratas had chaired the Centre Party since 2016. Kõlvart’s…
Estonia’s Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, criticised US technology entrepreneur Elon Musk for denying Ukraine access to his astronautics company SpaceX’s satellite network, Starlink, ERR reports. Tsahkna noted that Musk had an opportunity to shorten the war in Ukraine and save lives, but chose not to do so. Musk said that he had refused Ukraine’s request…
