There can be no lasting peace in Ukraine without the US, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with TV24, he noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump clearly had serious differences of opinion. However, the most important thing at the moment was not to exacerbate the…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s chief foreign policy adviser, Asta Skaisgiryte, urged against making “hasty steps” in withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Skaisgiryte called for a regional solution on the issue. She supported a collective withdrawal from the treaty by NATO’s eastern flank or…
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal will host a summit of Baltic rim NATO countries in Helsinki on 14 January 2025 to discuss the security of critical undersea infrastructure and Russia’s shadow fleet, ERR reports. Political leaders from all Baltic rim NATO countries, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission…
The Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) have increased monitoring of Latvia’s critical undersea infrastructure, Defence Minister Andris Spruds announced, LETA reports. He noted that NATO’s response to the recent damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea had been swift. Latvia supports NATO’s increased military presence in the Baltic Sea, Spruds said. Meanwhile, Latvian President Edgars…
Lithuania should withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas stated, BNS reports. He expects the Defence Ministry and Foreign Ministry to resolve the issue. Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said that the goal was to have a regional solution. Earlier, she said that military advice would be the key element in…
Raising Lithuania’s defence spending to 4% of GDP would allow the country’s new army division to reach full operational capacity by 2030, Lithuania’s defence chief, General Raimundas Vaiksnoras, stated, Baltic News Network reports. Lithuania’s new government has increased its borrowing limit for 2025 by around EUR 800mn. The full amount would raise the defence budget…
Estonia is due to receive a US-made M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and other artillery and air defence systems soon, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur announced, ERR reports. Estonia will receive an IRIS-T medium-range air defence system, 18 different mobile artillery pieces, around EUR 700mn worth of ammunition, nearly 200 armoured vehicles, and various…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has approved the country’s new cabinet of ministers, BNS reports. He described the incoming centre-left government as more capable than the outgoing centre-right government of Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) will hold the post of prime minister and will have nine ministers in the new government,…
Estonia’s Defence Ministry sees no need to halt the development of wind farms off the Estonian coast, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur announced, ERR reports. He insisted that air and maritime surveillance issues related to offshore wind farm projects were manageable. Pevkur assured that concerns expressed by the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) over the negative impact…