The European Commission (EC) is not considering paying subsidies to cover the cost of transporting Ukrainian grain through Baltic ports, EC Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis stated. Speaking in an interview with BNS, Dombrovskis said that the EC may provide financing for removing administrative or infrastructure bottlenecks, however. Also, the EC supported Lithuania’s proposal to move customs,…
The foreign ministers of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) are meeting in the Latvian capital, Riga, on 6-7 September 2023, LSM reports. The ministers will discuss regional and energy security, hybrid threats, support for Ukraine, and cooperation in international organisations. Latvia coordinates NB8 cooperation in 2023. Latvia’s focus is on strengthening the rules-based…
The chief prosecutors of the three Baltic States have agreed to increase their cooperation in the fight against drug-related and organised crime, BNS reports. Prosecutors working on narcotics cases will soon meet in Latvia to discuss further procedural steps. Estonia’s Prosecutor General, Andres Parmas, noted that the number of overdose deaths had risen sharply in…
Lithuania has asked NATO to increase air defences in the Baltic States, BNS reports. Lithuania’s Deputy Defence Minister, Zilvinas Tomkus, met with the commander of NATO’s Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), General James Hecker, to discuss the issue. Tomkus asked NATO to deploy more assets, including fighter jets and air defence systems, to the region. The…
The financial intelligence units (FIU) of the Baltic States have conducted a first joint study of cash flows in the region, BNS reports. The study showed that the risks and vulnerabilities related to the flow of cash have changed in the region in 2019-2022. While there is a significant flow of cash from all three…
The Lithuanian government does not plan to close more checkpoints on the border with Belarus in the near future, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte announced, LRT reports. However, she said that the possibility to do so remained, given that security threats persisted. A complete closure of the Belarus border would only be done in coordination with…
The Baltic States and Poland have agreed to close their borders with Belarus in the event of a “critical incident” involving the Russian private military company, Wagner Group, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski announced, TVP World reports. Following their meeting in Warsaw, the Baltic and Polish interior ministers demanded that Belarus expel the Wagner mercenaries…
Lithuania’s Vilnius University has dismissed Russian professor Andrey Desnitsky, who earlier denied the occupation of the Baltic States, LRT reports. Professor Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, dean of Vilnius University’s Faculty of Philology, said that Desnitsky, who had been working as a researcher and lecturer at the university since autumn 2022, had earlier written publications in which he…
The average interest rates on home loans in the Baltic States stood at 5.12% in the second quarter of 2023, which was 3 percentage points higher than in the same period of 2022, ERR reports. The average rate was the highest in 14 years. The Baltic States have the highest mortgage interest rates in the…