A group of prominent Estonians has proposed retired major general Riho Ühtegi, former commander of the Estonian Defence League (Kaitseliit), for president, ERR reported. Ühtegi confirmed that he was ready to stand as a candidate, Estonian World reported. He said that businessman Raivo Vare could be called his “campaign manager,” ERR reported. Earlier, the ruling Estonian…
Latvia’s ruling United List alliance and the populist opposition party, Latvia First (LPV), were the country’s most popular political parties in June 2026, according to a new SKDS poll for LTV, LSM reports. United List’s support stood at 9.8%, which was up sharply from 6.8% in April-May 2026. Support for LPV was 9.8% as well,…
Hackers have stolen large amounts of sensitive data from Latvia’s state forest management company, Latvijas Valsts Mezi (LVM), LETA reports. Baiba Kaskina, head of Latvia’s Cyber Incident Response Institution (CERT.LV), suggested that that the attack appeared to have been commercially motivated, LSM reported. A foreign ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Prime Minister…
Estonia’s opposition Social Democratic Party (SDE) has proposed the country’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, as a candidate for president, ERR reports. SDE’s deputy chairman, Tanel Kiik, argued that Madise had the potential to secure a two-thirds majority needed to be elected in the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu. He said that SDE had discussed Madise’s…
Every major party in Estonia has added to the state’s debt burden, according to Kaspar Oja, senior economist at the Bank of Estonia, ERR reported. While the biggest budget deficits emerged during the coronavirus pandemic, Estonia has had structural deficits every year since 2017, Oja noted. His analysis found that when in government, the Conservative…
Estonian political analysts said that the country’s parliament, the Riigikogu, was unlikely to agree on the election of a new president, ERR reported. The election was therefore likely to move to the electoral college, the analysts said. Both Tarmo Jüristo, head of the Liberal Citizen Foundation (SALK), and Tõnis Saarts, associate professor of comparative politics…
Estonian President Alar Karis announced that he would not run for a second term in office, ERR reported. He said that he had made the decision a long time ago and cited personal reasons. One reason was that he had promised his family that he would only serve one term, Karis explained. The chairman of…
Two pro-Russian activists facing criminal liability in Latvia and Lithuania, Aleksejs Roslikovs and Antanas Kandrotas, have fled to neighbouring Belarus, LRT reports. Roslikovs, a former member of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, and former member of the Riga city council representing the pro-Russian For Stability party, has been charged in Latvia with incitement of national…
Estonia’s most popular choice for prime minister is Urmas Reinsalu, chairman of the national-conservative opposition party, Fatherland, according to a new Norstat poll for the Institute for Societal Research (YI), ERR reports. In the survey, 27% of respondents preferred Reinsalu for prime minister in June 2026, followed by Mihhail Kõlvart, chairman of the opposition Estonian…