Estonia’s Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, criticised President Alar Karis who suggested helping Hungary pay fines for cancelling oil contracts with Russia, ERR reported. Speaking in an interview with Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, Karis urged Hungary to end the contracts. Tsahkna insisted that it would be “inconceivable” for states that had freed themselves of dependence on Russian…
Estonia’s Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta demanded that the European Commission add the Telegram messaging service to the EU’s list of very large online platforms (VLOP), ERR reports. She said that an independent count showed that the platform clearly had more users than the threshold to be deemed a VLOP. The listing would force Telegram to…
Germany-based news outlet Politico has named Estonia’s former prime minister, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, as one of Europe’s most influential people in 2025, ERR reports. Politico’s list ranked Kallas as the 16th most influential person in Europe. She is the only person on the list from the Baltic States. The publication labelled Kallas…
Latvia’s state real estate management company, Valsts Nekustamie Ipasumi (VNI), plans to complete the construction of a fence along the full stretch of the country’s border with Russia by the end of 2025, LSM reports. Only around 6 kilometres of the fence remains to be built in areas of difficult terrain along the border. VNI…
Estonia’s state-owned postal services provider, Omniva (Eesti Post), plans to nearly halve the number of post offices nationwide in 2026, ERR reports. The company will cut the number of post offices from current 35 to 19. Omniva will continue to have at least one post office in each of Estonia’s 15 counties. Also, the company…
Lithuania’s GDP rose by 3% over a year in 2024 to EUR 79bn at current prices, according to the State Data Agency’s (VDA) revised data, BNS reports. Gross value added in manufacturing rose by 2.9% and in wholesale and retail trade by 2.6% in constant prices. Growth in professional, scientific, and technical activities stood at…
Parties in Latvia’s coalition government have postponed decisions on possible changes to the management of the country’s national air carrier, airBaltic, LSM reports. Prime Minister Evika Silina said that the government would wait for decisions of airBaltic’s shareholders. She noted that airBaltic was partly privately-owned, and that the government did not manage the company directly….
Latvia’s new early warning system will not be implemented at the end of 2024 as planned because of a delay in the procurement process, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis announced, LSM reports. He said that the delay was due to the many legal appeals during the procurement procedure. The ministry announced a procurement tender for the…
The financial regulatory authorities of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries have conducted a financial crisis simulation exercise under the Nordic Baltic Stability Group framework, ERR reports. The exercise was aimed at testing preparedness for a potential crisis situation, including in communication, information sharing, and collaboration between the authorities. Around 450 participants representing Nordic, Baltic,…