The Latvian nation was born 150 years ago during the Latvian Song Festival, President Egils Levits said at the opening ceremony of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival procession on 2 July 2023, LETA reported. People from Latvia’s Kurzeme, Vidzeme, and Zemgale regions united into a single Latvian nation at the first Song Festival in…
The Latvian political activist, Valentins Jeremejevs, has released several videos in which he claims that 2,000 families in Latvia will be evicted from their homes due to the construction of the Rail Baltica railway, Re:Baltica reports. Jeremejevs’s most popular video on TikTok has been viewed by almost 150,000 people and on Facebook by 2,300 people….
Estonia’s retail trade turnover declined by 10% in May 2023, according to data from Statistics Estonia, The Baltic Guide reports. The total turnover of retail trade enterprises amounted to EUR 905mn, which was down 10% from the same month last year at constant prices. Johanna Linda Pihlak, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that grocery stores…
Lithuania’s foreign direct investment (FDI) development agency, Invest Lithuania (Investuok Lietuvoje), approved 26 FDI projects in the first half of 2023, LRT reports. The agency reported that 12 new foreign companies have announced investments in Lithuania, and 14 foreign firms already operating in Lithuania plan to expand. The investment projects are expected to create more…
Latvian political scientists Juris Rozenvalds and Ilga Kreituse criticised outgoing president Egils Levits in an interview on DELFI’s podcast with Danuta Dembovska. Professor Rozenvalds of the University of Latvia said that Levits’s foreign policy activity was positive, whereas the president’s achievements in domestic policy were “zero.” Levits promised a lot but failed to deliver, Rozenvalds…
Exiled Russian liberal opposition leader, economist Vladimir Milov, says Russians are not welcome in Latvia and advises Russian emigrants to leave the country, LSM reports. Speaking in an interview with LSM’s Russian service, Milov noted that the pro-Russian position of many Russian-speakers in Latvia leaves an imprint on all Russians. "Even if you are the…
The continuing rise in prices in Estonia is driven by the increase in food prices, ERR reports. In June 2023, the growth of prices slowed down to 8.9% compared to the same month last year, according to preliminary data from Statistics Estonia. Compared to May 2023, prices went up by 0.8%, however. In both annual…
The EU Affairs Committee of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has approved Estonia’s position on the introduction of digital travel documents in the EU, ERR reports. The committee supports the introduction of digital passports and ID cards. Committee deputy chair Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) said that digital travel documents would accelerate…
Lithuania remains an EU leader in terms of the market share of contraband cigarettes, according to KPMG’s market research, DELFI reports. The study found that altogether 2.63 billion cigarettes were consumed in Lithuania in 2022, which was 0.2 billion less than in 2021. Contraband cigarettes accounted for 0.59 billion of the total, which was 19.2%…