The chairman of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond), Jüri Ratas, announced that he would not seek reelection, ERR reports. Ratas has been chairman of the opposition party since 2016. The party’s deputy chairman, Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, said that he was ready to run for the post of chairman. Meanwhile, several senior members of the…
The presidents of Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland — Egils Levits, Gitanas Nauseda, and Andrzej Duda — have sent a joint letter to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and leaders of NATO member states to warn them of the threats posed by the developments in Belarus, BNS reports. In the letter, the three presidents pointed out…
The Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) has a rift in its leadership, party chairman Jüri Ratas stated, BNS reports. Earlier, the party’s governing board voted to return a donation of EUR 300,000 from local businessman Parvel Pruunsild. Ratas had insisted that the donation would have helped the party finance its operations. However, the party’s deputy chairman,…
Estonia’s state-owned company Rail Baltic Estonia, which was established to build the Rail Baltica railway, reported revenue of nearly EUR 39.6mn in 2022, which was up 84.3% from 2021, BNS reports. The company’s annual profit more than doubled from EUR 11.4mn to EUR 28.5mn. Rail Baltic Estonia made a profit of EUR 36mn from targeted…
The invitation for Ukraine to join NATO must be "clear and irrevocable," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking after a leadership meeting at the presidential palace to prepare for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Landsbergis reiterated Lithuania’s full support for Ukraine’s aspiration to join NATO. The meeting was also attended…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda believes that NATO’s upcoming Vilnius summit will reach agreements that will "not disappoint" Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion, LRT reports. Speaking in an interview with BNS, Nauseda said that the summit was unlikely to invite Ukraine to join the alliance after the war, however. Instead, NATO countries are expected…
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has appointed Lithuania’s Gedgaudas Norkunas as one of the EU prosecutors, the Justice Ministry announced, BNS reports. Previously, Norkunas served as a European delegated prosecutor. The new EU prosecutors will take up their posts on 29 July 2023 for a term in office of three years. Half of of the…
Housing prices in the Baltic States rose the fastest in Lithuania in the first quarter of 2023, according to Eurostat data, BNS reports. Compared to a year earlier, housing prices rose by 13.1% in Lithuania, which was the second-highest increase in the EU. Housing prices in Estonia rose by 9.2% and in Latvia by 6%…
Finland’s NATO membership opens up new opportunities for defence and security cooperation between Estonia and Finland, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking during Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s official visit to Estonia, Kallas said that Finland’s accession has bolstered NATO as a whole and the security of the Baltic Sea…