US president-elect Donald Trump has nominated Estonian-born lawyer Roman Pipko for US ambassador to Estonia, ERR reports. The US Senate is expected to confirm the nomination. Pipko will replace George Kent, who assumed the ambassadorship in January 2023. Trump noted that Pipko worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Russian-American Enterprise…
The Foreign Ministry of Georgia summoned the Estonian and Lithuanian ambassadors and the Latvian chargé d’affaires to express its concern over plans to impose sanctions on senior Georgian government officials, Agenda.ge reports. The ministry said that the plans amounted to “interference in Georgia’s internal affairs.” Earlier, the Baltic foreign ministers announced sanctions against several Georgian…
The three Baltic States have imposed entry bans on 11 Georgian officials due to their involvement in suppressing mass protests against the Georgian government’s decision to delay the country’s EU accession talks, Civil Georgia reports. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania urged the EU to levy sanctions on Georgian officials responsible for the violent police crackdown, Devdiscourse…
Estonia’s Foreign Ministry had “no role whatsoever” in organising or initiating a recent visit by six Estonian MPs to China, the ministry’s director of media relations, Liisa Toots, stated, ERR reports. She said that the visit was organised by the Chinese embassy in Estonia in cooperation with the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, which…
US presence in Europe and the Baltic region is the best deterrent against Russia, contributing to stability in the whole region, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stated, BNS reports. Speaking at the European Political Community summit in the UK, Nauseda said that if former US president Donald Trump won the US presidential elections in November 2024,…
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin dreams of restoring the Russian Empire, as indicated by Russian propaganda and hybrid warfare, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LETA reported. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rinkevics said that the Latvian government should remember that peacetime was over, stressing the need to boost the defence industry and defence…
Latvia will soon have several new ambassadors, LSM reports. Latvia’s former long-term ambassador to Russia, Maris Riekstins, will become Latvia’s new permanent representative to NATO. Riekstins served in the same post in 2011-2025 as well. Meanwhile, Sanita Pavluta-Deslandes will replace Andrejs Pildegovics as Latvia’s ambassador to the United Nations. Also, Solveiga Silkalna, former adviser to…
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…
Canada’s Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly, has appointed Laird Hindle as the country’s first ever ambassador to Estonia, ERR reports. Prior to his appointment, Hindle was Global Affairs Canada’s Deputy Director for Southern Africa. Joly said that the appointment would advance Canada’s strategic diplomatic presence in the Baltic States. She cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and…