The president of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, has presented her list of candidates for EU commissioners, ERR reports. Estonia’s former prime minister, Kaja Kallas, was named as candidate for EU’s foreign policy chief earlier. If confirmed by the European Parliament, she will be one of six EC vice-presidents. Meanwhile, von der…
Lithuania’s central bank, the Bank of Lithuania, has raised its GDP growth forecast for 2024, BNS reports. The central bank now expects the GDP to grow by 2.2% in 2024, up from its previous forecast of 1.9% in June 2024. The central bank projects that the GDP will rise by 3.1% in 2025 and 3.3%…
The Baltic and Polish parliamentary committees of European affairs held a joint meeting in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on 15-16 September 2024, BNS reported. The committees urged the EU to strengthen the protection of Poland’s border amid a new surge in migrant flows. Zygimantas Pavilionis, chairman of the European affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament,…
German ferry operator TT-Line has opened a new direct ferry route between Travemünde and the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda, BNS reports, citing local newspaper Vakaru Ekspresas. The ferry will run on the route once a week. TT-Line now operates altogether seven ferries from Klaipeda: three each to Trelleborg and Karlshamn in Sweden, and now one…
Belarus has deployed military equipment and troops to its border with Lithuania, according to the OSINT monitoring group, Belarusian Hajun, RBC-Ukraine reports. The group said that the Armed Forces of Belarus (USRB) had transferred a tactical group of the 19th Mechanised Brigade to the Hudahaj station in Hrodna region, just seven kilometres from the border…
The three Baltic States have granted temporary protection to altogether 158,985 Ukrainian nationals fleeing the war, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. Lithuania had granted temporary protection to 79,085 Ukrainian refugees at the end of July 2024, compared to 46,080 in Latvia and 33,820 in Estonia. The share of Ukrainian refugees in relation to the…
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…
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…