The Lithuanian government has nominated Rasa Jankauskaite as the country’s new ambassador to South Africa, BNS reports. If approved by President Gitanas Nauseda, Jankauskaite will assume office as of 1 September 2023. She said that one of her goals was to agree on visa-free travel for Lithuanian citizens to South Africa, which has a large…
Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, will propose stricter penalties for crimes against the state, BNS reports. The proposed amendments would introduce life sentences for organising or taking part in a coup. Currently, the maximum penalty for such an offense is 20 years in prison. Also, the president’s proposed legislation would introduce longer prison terms for being…
Latvia should increase the number of defence personnel by at least 1.3 times to around 31,000 in view of the current geopolitical situation, Major General Imants Ziedins of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) stated, LETA reports. He noted that such an increase would not be possible without the compulsory military service. Ziedins said that…
Latvia’s electricity consumption totalled 491 GWh in June 2023, which was the lowest monthly figure since June 2005, according to data from transmission system operator Augstsprieguma Tikls (AST), LSM reports. Electricity consumption declined by 9% over a year and 5% over a month. AST attributed the drop in consumption to the increasing number of microgeneration…
Latvia’s actual unemployment rate stood at 5.6% in June 2023, which was down 1.0 percentage point from a year earlier, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s labour force survey, LSM reports. Compared to May 2023, the actual unemployment rate remained unchanged. The unemployment rate among men dropped by 0.1 percentage point over a year to…
Latvia’s timber industry exports totalled EUR 1.4bn in the first five months of 2023, which was down more than 20% from nearly EUR 1.9bn in the same period of 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, LSM reports. Exports of wood and wood products amounted to EUR 1.3bn (down 20%), sawn timber to…
The commander of the Estonian Military Academy (KVA), Brigadier General Vahur Karus, may become the country’s next defence chief, sources told Postimees, ERR reports. The term of the current commander of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF), General Martin Herem, will end in 2025. Herem’s former deputy, Major General Veiko-Vello Palm, is unlikely to succeed him due…
Estonia’s state-owned energy group, Eesti Energia, produced a record 252,461 tonnes of shale oil in the first half of 2023, which was up 20% from the same period of 2022, ERR reports. The company has three shale oil plants and is building a fourth one. Eesti Energia expects its annual shale oil production to reach…
Estonia’s producer price index (PPI) of industrial output fell by 1.9% on year in June 2023, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reports. Compared to May 2023, the PPI dropped by 0.4%. The biggest impact on the index came from a fall in the price of electricity production and in the manufacture of wood products and…