The EU should cover costs related to confronting Russia, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs stated, Politico reports. He said that the EU should grant an additional EUR 7bn from its next multi-annual budget to compensate for Latvia’s higher defence spending and loss of trade with Russia. Latvia’s projected defence spending over the seven-year budget period…
Estonia’s non-parliamentary opposition party, Right-Wingers, has re-elected Lavly Perling as its chairwoman, ERR reported. She was the only candidate to the post. In her acceptance speech, Perling said that “painful decisions” were needed for Estonia not to lose the right to make decisions over its state finances. She insisted that state spending be frozen and…
European credit rating agency Scope Ratings has affirmed Lithuania’s long-term credit rating at A+ with a stable outlook, the Finance Ministry announced, BNS reports. The agency pointed to Lithuania’s resilient and increasingly diversified economy, sound public finances, and strong institutional framework. Also, rapid economic growth and greater macroeconomic resilience were raising income levels in Lithuania,…
Latvia has failed to reach targets set in the country’s addiction prevention plan for 2023-2025, the Ministry of Health announced, LETA reported. The ministry’s evaluation report attributed the incomplete implementation of the plan to the lack of government budget funding. The plan included 35 measures to reduce alcohol and drug use, of which 19 were…
Political parties in Lithuania are discussing the possibility of signing a new cross-party agreement on national defence, LRT reports. Opposition parties are pushing for a commitment to maintain defence spending above 5% of GDP after 2030. However, the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP) insists that there is no need for such an agreement….
Estonia has signed an agreement with the European Commission on up to EUR 2.34bn in long-term loans for defence investments through the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) programme, ERR reports. Under the agreement, the loan period will be 45 years. The Ministry of Defence will use the SAFE funding to acquire air defence capabilities,…
The Latvian government has asked the State Chancellery to conduct a comprehensive analysis of state funding for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), LETA reports. Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs alleged that NGOs were wasting taxpayer money, LSM reported. He suggested that state funding for NGOs created a conflict of interest, insisting that NGOs should not depend on state…
Lithuania’s budget deficit was the smallest in the Baltic States in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat data, BNS reported. Lithuania’s budget deficit stood at 0.9% of GDP, which was down from 1.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025. Estonia’s budget deficit amounted 1.2% (1.3%) and Latvia’s to 1.9% (2.4%) of GDP. Meanwhile,…
Latvia’s central bank and the country’s Finance Ministry have both lowered their GDP growth forecasts and raised their inflation forecasts. Latvia’s GDP growth will drop to 2.0% in 2026, before rising to 2.4% in 2027 and 3.0% in 2028, according to the Bank of Latvia’s latest macroeconomic projection. In December 2025, the central bank had…
