Unemployment in the Baltic States was highest in Lithuania in May 2024, according to Eurostat data, LETA reports. The unemployment rate stood at 7.7% in Lithuania, 7.4% in Estonia, and 6.7% in Latvia. The EU average was 6%.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda supports Lithuania’s withdrawal from the Convention on Cluster Munitions so as to improve the country’s defence capabilities, BNS reports. The Defence Ministry has proposed the motion to the parliament, the Seimas. The ministry highlighted the need for cluster munitions in Lithuania’s defence strategy, noting that adversaries like Russia and Belarus would…
The Netherlands will deploy a Patriot long-range air defence system in Lithuania for the Baltic Connection 24 (BALTCON24) military exercise on 7-19 July 2024, BNS reports. Lithuania’s Defence Ministry said that the deployment was the first step in implementing NATO’s decision to establish a rotational air defence model to strengthen the alliance’s integrated air and…
Lithuanian fashion retail group Apranga Group posted a retail turnover (including VAT) of EUR 161.6mn in the first half of 2024, which was up 9.4% from the same period of 2023, GlobeNewswire reports. Sales in Lithuania amounted to EUR 96.4mn (up 7.5%), in Latvia to EUR 41.0mn (up 17.1%), and in Estonia to EUR 24.1mn (up…
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Russia of conducting “hybrid attacks” against the Baltic States, Anadolu Agency reports. Speaking at a joint news conference with her visiting Latvian counterpart, Baiba Braze, Baerbock cited Russia’s GPS interference, disinformation campaigns, and removal of border buoys. She noted that Germany and NATO allies had increased their military presence…
The Lithuanian government is set to grant special status to German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall’s planned artillery ammunition factory in Radviliskis, BNS reports. The move would allow the company to begin building the factory without the usual regulatory permits, which will need to be obtained before the project’s completion, however. Construction is expected to start in…
A group of 24 migrants have filed a class action lawsuit against Lithuania, seeking compensation of EUR 5,000 each for their arbitrary detention in 2021-2022, BNS reports. The claimants allege that the Lithuanian government unlawfully detained at least 4,000 migrants for months without judicial review during an emergency declared due to irregular border crossings from…
Lithuanian media group 15min Group will acquire the local radio station network, M-1, from Ruta Grusniene for an undisclosed sum, BNS reports. 15min Group, which is majority-owned by Estonia’s Postimees Group, plans to close the deal by the end of summer 2024, subject to regulatory approval. The M-1 group owns local radio stations M-1, M-1…
Lithuania is experiencing increasingly common heat waves with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, which experts say is becoming the new summer norm due to climate change, LRT reports. Gytis Valaika from the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service (LHMT) and Justinas Kilpys from Vilnius University highlight that such temperatures were rare before 2000 but have occurred annually since…