Latvia was hit by the strongest storm since 1966 on the night of 22-23 August 2026, LSM reported. Wind speeds exceeded 30 mps in some areas, according to the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre (LVGMC), LETA reported. Several injuries and one fatality were recorded. Electricity distributor Sadales Tikls reported that the storm cut power…
Lithuania’s Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius and parliamentary speaker Juozas Olekas resisted calls for an independent inquiry into child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, BNS reported. Earlier, two local priests were charged with sexual offences against children. Sinkevicius insisted that any investigation was up to Church authorities. Olekas asserted that courts should do their work…
Lithuania’s most popular public figure is former president Valdas Adamkus, according to Baltijos Tyrimai’s poll for ELTA in late July 2026, DELFI reports. Approval for Adamkus stood at 80% and disapproval at just 11%. Former president Dalia Grybauskaite was second with 59% approval and 32% disapproval, followed by incumbent President Gitanas Nauseda with 52% approval…
Estonia’s population is smaller but richer and healthier now than it was at the restoration of the country’s independence in 1991, according to Statistics Estonia’s data, ERR reports. Estonia’s population totalled 1,360,745 people in the beginning of 2026, which was down 13.2% from 1,567,749 in 1991. Native Estonian-speakers now account for 68.5% of Estonia’s population,…
Lithuania’s Culture Minister, Lukas Alsys, called for a systematic shift away from the use of Russian language in public administration, BNS reported. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Alsys stressed that government institutions and municipalities in Lithuania communicated in the state language, Lithuanian. However, the policy of phasing out Russian should take into account…
Lithuania’s conservative opposition Homeland Union has submitted to parliament a draft national agreement on demographics for 2026-2040, ELTA reports. The proposal would expand state support for first-time homebuyers, strengthen family policy and access to services, improve work-life balance, and encourage the return of Lithuanian emigrants. Earlier, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius proposed a cross-party agreement on…
Latvia’s United List continues to oppose the ratification of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women, but is not committed to withdrawing from the treaty immediately, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs stated, LETA reports. He said that the question should not be made into a top political priority, given that the treaty had…
Estonia’s population totalled 1,360,745 people in the beginning of 2026, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reported. The number of ethnic Estonians amounted to 932,603 people (68.5%) and Russians to 276,125 people (20.2%) of the total population. People of other ethnic nationalities numbered 146,619 (10.8%), including 75,250 (5.5%) Ukrainians, 11,477 Belarusians, 8,059 Finns, and 4,272 Latvians….
Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius urged the Catholic Church to cooperate in an investigation into child sexual abuse by two local priests, BNS reported. He called for answers on whether the Church had taken sufficient measures to detect, prevent, and report such abuse. “Moral authority mandates the highest standards of responsibility,” he stated. In the…
