Railways are much more popular in Latvia than in Estonia and Lithuania, according to Eurostat data, LSM reports. Latvian railways carried 21.399 million passengers in 2025, which was up from 19.508 million in 2024. The number of rail passengers totalled 7.692 (7.944) million in Estonia and 5.398 (5.114) million in Lithuania, the lowest in the…
Poland’s state-owned energy group, Orlen, may shut down its oil refinery in Lithuania, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with PAP, Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fafara said that the group may end up abandoning a major project to modernise the refinery in Mazeikiai. The project would require additional investments of USD 600-700mn (EUR 536-625mn). Fafara said…
People in the Baltic States rate their health much worse than the EU average, according to Eurostat, LSM reported. The data showed that 57.8% of people aged 16 years or older in Estonia said that their health was good or very good in 2025, which was almost unchanged from 57.7% in 2024. The corresponding figure…
Road traffic safety is much better in Estonia than in Latvia and Lithuania, according to data from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, ERR reports. Estonia had altogether 43 road deaths in 2025, which was 38% fewer than in 2024. Meanwhile, the number of road fatalities rose by 5% to 118 in Latvia…
Estonia’s leading agricultural group, Agrone, has completed the acquisition of 100% of shares in Latvia’s largest dairy group, Food Union Management, LSM reports. Agrone acquired the shares from Food Union Luxembourg Holdings II for an undisclosed price. The Food Union group includes Rigas Piena Kombinats and Valmieras Piens, which produce some of Latvia’s best-known fresh…
US defence officials urged the Baltic States to tone down their rhetoric on the threat posed by Russia, arguing that some statements had undermined European security, Reuters reported. One of the US officials was Elbridge Colby, Under Secretary of Defence for Policy at the US Defence Department, who insisted on not “poking” Russia. He pointed…
The Baltic joint venture, RB Rail, has submitted a new application to the European Commission for an additional EUR 357.5mn in funding from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the Rail Baltica railway project, BNS reports. The European Commission and the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency are expected to announce their decisions on…
Estonia plans to build about 150 bunkers in the northeastern Ida-Virumaa county along the border with Russia, Defence Minister Martin Herem announced, BNS reported. Speaking in the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, Herem said that the bunkers would be part of the Baltic Defence Line. Around 100 of the bunkers would be on state land and…
The European Commission has rejected a request from the three Baltic States for EUR 500mn of EU funding to develop an anti-drone defence system, LRT reports. Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said that the system would have combined drone detection, AI, and interception technology into an integrated air-defence system. The European Commissioner for Defence and…
