The Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) has introduced a new two-tier system for mobile alerts informing the public of potential security threats, LSM reports. Alerts are now either yellow or orange, depending on the assessed seriousness of the threat. Yellow alerts will warn of possible threats in Latvian airspace requiring no immediate action from residents,…
The US Department of State has sent a letter to Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine, asking them to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash and allow transit shipments through their territories, RFE/RL reports. The letter stated that US companies were interested in buying Belarusian potash shipped via Baltic or Ukrainian ports so as to avoid Russian ports….
Poor management of Latvia’s state forest management company, Latvijas Valsts Mezi (LVM), led to major monetary losses, according to the State Audit Office (LRVK), LSM reported. The audit concluded that LVM’s management and the Ministry of Agriculture had failed to ensure sufficiently effective oversight of the company. The government’s decision to provide support to timber…
Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has doubled rail freight tariffs to Estonia, Latvia, and Finland as of 1 June 2026, ERR reports. The double rate will apply to freight transported via Belarus to Latvia and Estonia as well. Freight to Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave or Lithuania is exempt, however. Estonian logistics expert Raivo Vare pointed out…
Passenger traffic by land and sea transport increased in Latvia in 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reported. The number of passengers on land transport totalled 192.4 million in 2025, which was up 0.6% from 191.2 million in 2024. The number of passengers on regular bus lines amounted to 97.6 million (down…
Tourist accommodation establishments in Latvia had a total of 447,100 guests in the first quarter of 2026, which was down 3.0% from 460,800 in the same period of 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. The number of foreign guests amounted to 246,600, which was 7.2% fewer than a year earlier. The…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda denied that the US was pressuring Lithuania to reopen transit shipments of fertilisers from Belarus, BNS reported. He stressed that Belarusian fertilisers were under EU sanctions and insisted that there were no grounds to lift the sanctions. Earlier, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told a closed-door meeting of the parliamentary group of…
Latvia’s outgoing Prime Minister Evika Silina has dismissed Agriculture Minister Armands Krauze of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) after the latter came under criminal investigation for abuse of office, LSM reported. Earlier, Latvia’s Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) briefly detained Krauze and the Agriculture Ministry’s former state secretary, current director of the…
Estonia’s national transmission system operator, Elering, has postponed plans to build a fourth electricity interconnection with Latvia until after 2038, which was the project’s original completion date, ERR reports. Earlier, Elering postponed a decision on the construction of a third undersea electricity connection to Finland. Reigo Kebja, board member at Elering, said that final investment…
