Estonian President Alar Karis and Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina back an idea to appoint a special EU envoy for talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine, Euronews reports. Speaking in interviews at the World Governments Summit in the UAE, both Karis and Silina said that any communication with Russia should be conducted…
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal urged Latvia to complete its part of the Rail Baltica railway by 2030 as agreed, ERR reported. Michal said that Estonia would “kindly pressure” Latvia with the help of EU funding. Earlier, Maris Dzelme, board chairman of Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas (EDZL), which manages the construction project in Latvia, said that…
Estonia’s national conservative opposition party, Fatherland (Isamaa), remained the country’s most popular political party in January 2026, according to Norstat’s latest poll for the Institute for Societal Research (YI), ERR reports. Fatherland’s support stood at 26.4%, followed by the opposition Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) with 20.7% and the ruling Estonian Reform Party with 15.2%. The…
The US Congress has approved USD 200mn in security assistance to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania under the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI) in 2026, ERR reports. BSI supports the independent defence capabilities and interoperability of the Baltic States. In addition, the US has allocated defence aid to the Baltic States under the Department of State’s Foreign…
Estonian authorities have boarded and detained a Bahamian-flagged container ship suspected of smuggling, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (EMTA) announced, ERR reports. Officials stopped the vessel, Baltic Spirit, off the island of Naissaar in Estonia’s internal waters. The ship, with an all-Russian crew, was en route from Ecuador to Saint Petersburg in Russia. The vessel…
Estonian President Alar Karis has appointed Kristjan Prikk as the country’s new ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), ERR reports. Prikk, who has served as Estonia’s ambassador to the US since 2021, will replace Estonia’s current NATO ambassador, Jüri Luik, as of August 2026. Previously, Prikk served in various defence-related diplomatic posts. He…
Police in Estonia have registered over 1,000 violations of a law banning symbols of state aggression since April 2022, ERR reports. The law prohibits the public display of symbols supporting international crimes, including Russia’s wars of aggression. Erik Kalda, managing editor of local daily Põhjarannik, said that everyone in the majority Russian-speaking Ida-Virumaa county now…
Estonia’s Chancellor of Justice, Ülle Madise, has asked the Supreme Court to declare the country’s new car tax unconstitutional, ERR reports. Madise argued that current legislation was in conflict with the Constitution as it did not allow refunding the motor vehicle registration fee in exceptional cases, such as when the vehicle was stolen, destroyed, or…
Newly released documents connected to the convicted US human trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein, include numerous mentions related to the Baltic States. Several documents refer to travel arrangements to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Estonian World reports. Many messages refer, often in sexualised context, to women that Epstein or his associates had met in the Baltic States. Latvia…