Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called for a “strong and decisive” response to attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, BNS reports. Speaking during a meeting with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Budrys urged to expand NATO patrols, impose sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet, and revise navigation rules in the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile,…
The four policy priorities of Latvia’s coalition government in 2025 are “security, support for families, economic growth, and reducing bureaucracy,” Prime Minister Evika Silina announced, LSM reports. She will begin individual meetings with ministers to discuss the priorities, according to LETA. Silina said that national security remained the government’s most pressing priority, highlighting the need…
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…
Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers have agreed to help step up international support for Moldova after Russia’s state-owned energy corporation, Gazprom, stopped gas supplies to the country, ERR reports. In a joint statement, the eight ministers said that they would work with the European Commission and other key partners to help Moldova. The ministers said…
The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) helped attract 45 foreign investment projects, which will create an estimated 2,023 new jobs, in 2024, LSM reports. The total value of the projects is EUR 655.4mn, which is up 6% from 2023. The biggest investments were in high-value-added manufacturing, ICT, energy, and aviation. LIAA’s target is…
The Baltic and Polish transmission system operators (TSO) plan to apply for around EUR 600mn of EU funding for infrastructure investments from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), ERR reports. The funds would be divided equally between the four companies. The companies would use the funds for investments in protecting their critical energy infrastructure. Kalle Kilk,…
Latvia would support Estonia or Finland if they requested consultations with allies under NATO’s Article 4, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics announced, LETA reports. He was responding to questions about the recent sabotage of undersea power and data cables in the Baltic Sea. Rinkevics stressed the need for bolstering the physical presence of NATO allied forces…
The Lithuanian government may change the terms of a tender for the right to build a second 700 MW offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas announced, Baltic News Network reports. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Vaiciunas said that the Energy Ministry was looking for solutions to ensure the…
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…