Railways are much more popular in Latvia than in Estonia and Lithuania, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. Latvian railways carried 21.399 million passengers in 2025, which was up from 19.508 million in 2024. The number of rail passengers totalled 7.692 (7.944) million in Estonia and 5.398 (5.114) million in Lithuania, the lowest in the…
Poland’s state-owned energy group, Orlen, may shut down its oil refinery in Lithuania, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with PAP, Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fafara said that the group may end up abandoning a major project to modernise the refinery in Mazeikiai. The project would require additional investments of USD 600-700mn (EUR 536-625mn). Fafara said…
People in the Baltic States rate their health much worse than the EU average, according to Eurostat, LSM reported. The data showed that 57.8% of people aged 16 years or older in Estonia said that their health was good or very good in 2025, which was almost unchanged from 57.7% in 2024. The corresponding figure…
Lithuania marked the 100th birthday of the country’s former president, Valdas Adamkus, on 3 November 2026, BNS reported. The celebrations in Vilnius and Kaunas included an international conference, a gala concert, and a musical tribute. Just ahead of his centenary, Adamkus was discharged from hospital, ELTA reported. President Gitanas Nauseda praised Adamkus for his service…
Road traffic safety is much better in Estonia than in Latvia and Lithuania, according to data from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, ERR reports. Estonia had altogether 43 road deaths in 2025, which was 38% fewer than in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of road fatalities rose by 5% to 118 in Latvia…
US officials have pressured Lithuania to allow exports of EU-sanctioned Belarusian potash fertilisers via the port of Klaipeda, Politico reports. European officials said that the US special envoy to Belarus, John Coale, has been lobbying Lithuanian authorities on all levels about the issue for more than a year. US officials have also raised the possibility…
Lithuania’s GDP totalled EUR 24.4bn at current prices in the third quarter of 2026, according to the State Data Agency’s (VDA) first estimate, BNS reports. Compared to the same period of 2025, the seasonally and working-day adjusted GDP rose by 2.3%. However, compared to the second quarter of 2026, the GDP contracted by 1.0%. Construction,…
US defence officials urged the Baltic States to tone down their rhetoric on the threat posed by Russia, arguing that some statements had undermined European security, Reuters reported. One of the US officials was Elbridge Colby, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy at the US Defence Department, who insisted on not “poking” Russia. He pointed…
The Baltic joint venture, RB Rail, has submitted a new application to the European Commission for an additional EUR 357.5mn in funding from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the Rail Baltica railway project, BNS reports. The European Commission and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency are expected to announce their decisions on…
