Latvia: Rail Baltica construction contract awarded to European JV

Latvia’s state-owned Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas (EDZL) has awarded a contract to build the Rail Baltica railway in Latvia to the European joint venture, ERB Rail Baltica, for EUR 3.7mn, LSM reports. ERB Rail Baltica was established by France’s Eiffage Génie Civil, Italy’s Rizzani de Eccher, and Poland’s Budimex. EDZL’s procurement commission excluded Türkiye’s IC Ictas…

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Lithuania: “Pivot to Taiwan” receives both criticism and recognition

Lithuania’s decision to distance from China and forge closer ties with Taiwan is one of the government’s most influential foreign policy initiatives, LRT reports. The move is part of Lithuania’s “values-based foreign policy,” which touts the country as a “freedom-loving outpost” in an increasingly authoritarian region. At the same time, officials admitted that the move…

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Estonia: MEP Paet calls for closer economic ties with Taiwan

Estonia should prioritise trade with free democratic societies, where the political risk is smallest, Estonian MEP Urmas Paet (Reform/Renew Europe), deputy chairman of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, argues. Writing in an opinion piece for ERR, Paet criticised Estonia’s state-run export promotion agency, Enterprise Estonia, for advocating closer economic ties with Vietnam, which has…

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Estonia: Timber imported from countries with little forests: report

Following the imposition of sanctions on Russian timber, Estonia has seen a surge in heavy timber imports from unexpected countries, where forests are assumed to be scarce, Postimees reports. Henrik Välja, CEO of the Estonian Forest and Wood Industries Association (EMPL), said that Russian timber continued to flow into Estonia through an illegal scheme whereby…

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