The Estonian government has banned transit shipments of grain from Russia and Belarus, ERR reports. Amid attacks on shipping in the Black Sea, Russia has diverted grain exports away from Black Sea ports to other ports, including on the Baltic Sea coast. Russia and Belarus have not used Estonian ports to export grain to third…
Latvia’s Central Statistical Bureau (CSP) has begun publishing a list of Latvian companies that export goods to or import goods from Russia or Belarus, LSM reports. CSP will update the list monthly. The list now includes 170 companies, some very well-known ones, that continue to do business with Russia or Belarus in sectors that are…
The commander of Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT), Rustamas Liubajevas, has resigned, Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas announced, LRT reports. Katelynas said that serious questions had arisen about how VSAT had handled and reported a recent violent incident involving migrants on the border with Belarus. Media reports revealed that a group of migrants had attacked…
NATO fighters shot down a drone that had entered Latvian airspace in the early morning hours of 14 August 2026, LSM reported. Two Italian Eurofighter jets based at Lithuania’s Siauliai Air Base and two Turkish F-16 jets from Estonia’s Ämari Air Base were involved in the operation, LSM reported. The drone was destroyed by one…
The Latvian government has launched “Operation Werewolf” to stop illegal border crossings from Belarus and Russia, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs announced, LSM reports. Latvia’s State Border Guard (VRS), State Police, State Security Service (VDD), Defence Intelligence and Security Service (MIDD), and National Armed Forces (NBS) will exchange information on attempts to cross the border illegally…
Altogether 257,373 Latvian nationals lived abroad at the end of the first half of 2026, which was up 1.5% from 253,572 in the beginning of 2026, according to data from the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), LETA reports. The number of Latvians in the UK totalled 102,086 (up by 950), followed by Germany…
A group of migrants attacked Lithuanian border guards after entering the country through a tunnel on the border with Belarus, LRT reported. The incident occurred on 26 July 2026 at the Kapciamiestis border checkpoint. Border guards detained the first people who came through the tunnel but were then attacked by about 20 more migrants, forcing…
Latvia has reopened the border crossing in Patarnieki on the border with Belarus, the State Border Guard (VRS) announced, LETA reports. Earlier, the government decided not to approve the Interior Ministry’s proposal to close down the checkpoint, which is the only road border crossing that remains open on Latvia’s border with Belarus. However, Prime Minister…
Latvia will not close its border with Belarus for now, the Latvian government announced, LSM reports. The border checkpoint in Patarnieki, Latvia’s only remaining land border crossing with Belarus, was closed for “technical reasons” on 31 July 2026. As a result, hundreds of trucks are stuck at the border crossing, LSM reports. The Ministry of…
