German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid a working visit to Latvia on 8 July 2025, LSM reported. He held talks with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics and Prime Minister Evika Silina. Steinmeier highlighted Germany’s special connection and historical and cultural ties with Latvia. Speaking about bilateral cooperation on security policy, he noted that Latvia was beginning to…
Israel will soon open an embassy in Estonia, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced, ERR reports. Speaking at a joint press conference with Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna in Tallinn, Sa’ar said that the opening of the embassy would strengthen economic and military cooperation between the two countries. Tsahkna noted that Israel was an important…
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, met with his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts on a working visit to Riga and Vilnius, LSM reports. The foreign ministers discussed bilateral cooperation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze expressed hope for more permanent solutions in Israel’s relations with Lebanon…
Latvia will have to raise its defence budget to at least 4% of GDP in the coming years, President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LSM reports. Speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina, Rinkevics insisted that the current defence spending of 3.45% of GDP was not enough. He noted that Latvia had “a rather serious problem”…
Latvia has taken over the presidency of the Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM) for 2025, LSM reports. The focus of the Latvian presidency will be on regional security and resilience, support for Ukraine, regional connectivity, energy security, and investments, the Latvian Foreign Ministry stated. Latvia would pay special attention to external borders, civil protection and…
The Netherlands has taken over responsibility for NATO’s air policing mission at Estonia’s Ämari Air Base from the Spanish Air Force as of 1 December 2024, ERR reports. The Royal Netherlands Air Force has deployed F-35 fighter jets to the air base, which was reopened after runway repairs that lasted nine months. The Netherlands will…
The largest ever Latvian trade mission to the US concluded its visit on 26 September 2024, LSM reported. Economy Minister Viktors Valainis said that three major cooperation agreements were signed during the visit. Also, talks started on investments in sustainable energy, biomedicine, and infrastructure development, he added. Earlier, Valainis expected the trade mission to bring…
Estonian Climate Minister Yoko Alender and Finland’s Minister of Environment and Climate, Kai Mykkänen, have signed a memorandum of understanding on increased cooperation in protecting critical undersea energy infrastructure, BNS reports. Under the agreement, Estonia and Finland will set up a steering group to develop their cooperation on ensuring the resilience and security of undersea…
Estonia and the US have signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in countering information manipulation, ERR reports. The memorandum stresses the importance of media freedom in protecting the information space. Estonian state secretary Taimar Peterkop said that Estonia could share with allies its experience in dealing with Russian information attacks. The US has signed…