The city council of Estonia’s second-largest city, Tartu, has elected Tõnis Lukas of the national conservative Fatherland (Isamaa) party as its chairman, ERR reports. At the same time, the city council elected Raimond Tamm of the liberal Estonian Reform Party as deputy chairman. Reform’s Urmas Klaas will continue to serve as the city’s mayor. Fatherland…
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Denmark have signed a cooperation agreement to begin joint medicine purchases, ERR reports. The Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs said that the agreement would allow the countries to order larger quantities of medicines, helping obtain lower prices and more reliable terms of delivery. The ministry noted that new medicines usually arrive…
The EU is preparing new sanctions against Belarus, following repeated incursions of smuggler balloons from Belarus into Lithuania, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced, BNS reports. Earlier, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys urged the EU not to allow the Belarusian regime to blackmail and escape its international isolation and have sanctions lifted, ELTA…
The city council of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, has elected Mihhail Kõlvart, chairman of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond), as its new speaker, ERR reports. Kõlvart served as city council speaker in 2017-2019 and as city mayor in 2019-2024. Earlier, the Centre Party signed a four-year coalition agreement with national conservative party Fatherland (Isamaa). Under the…
Lithuania has submitted an application for EUR 6.375bn of support from the European Commission’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument to finance around 50 defence projects, BNS reports. Deputy Defence Minister Karolis Aleksa said that Lithuania would use the EU funds to acquire tanks or tracked infantry fighting vehicles for a national army division. Also,…
A group of MPs in Lithuania has established a parliamentary working group to push for the restoration of full diplomatic relations with communist China, ELTA reports. The working group’s chairman, MP Ignas Vegele of the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVZS), called on Lithuania to bring its diplomatic ties with China in line with…
Staff at Lithuania’s public broadcaster, Lietuvos Nacionalinis Radijas ir Televizija (LRT), have announced a week-long protest against a proposal to make it easier to remove the company’s director general, LRT reports. During the action, the staff will hold brief moments of silence on air. Also, journalists plan a protest rally outside the Lithuanian parliament, the…
Estonia’s opposition Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) and Fatherland (Isamaa) have signed a coalition agreement to govern Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, for the next four years, ERR reports. Under the agreement, the posts of mayor and city council chairman will alternate between the two parties, and the parties will have three deputy mayors each. Keskerakond’s Mihhail Kõlvart…
Estonia expects European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to propose a solution this week to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated, ERR reports. He noted that a legal solution already existed to provide guarantees to Belgium against claims from Russia. Tsahkna insisted that there was no need for…