Finnish police have arrested two crew members of a cargo ship suspected of severing Finnish telecommunications operator Elisa’s undersea data cable in the Gulf of Finland, YLE reports. In addition, two more crew members were issued with travel bans. Three informed sources told Helsingin Sanomat that there was no indication of Russian involvement in the…
GDP per capita in the Baltic States was highest in Lithuania in 2024, according to preliminary data from Eurostat, BNS reports. Lithuania’s real GDP per capita stood at 87.5% of the EU average in 2024, followed by Estonia with 79.0% and Latvia with 68.4%. Actual individual consumption (AIC) per capita amounted to 88% of the…
Lithuania expects Belarus to honour its pledge to stop smuggler balloons from flying into Lithuanian airspace, Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stated, BNS reports. Earlier, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, John Coale, announced that Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka had promised to halt the balloon incursions. Budrys warned that failure to honour the pledge would affect…
The prime ministers of the Baltic States assured that the Rail Baltica railway from Tallinn to the Polish border would be completed on schedule, BNS reported. Speaking after a joint meeting in Riga, the three prime ministers pledged to secure maximum EU funding for the project. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal stressed that the railway…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics expressed doubts about Russia’s readiness for peace in Ukraine, LETA reported. Speaking at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Evika Silina, Rinkevics said that Latvia fully supported both security guarantees for Ukraine and efforts to achieve peace. He noted that the positions of the United States, Europe, and Ukraine were…
Lithuania should “slightly de-escalate” tensions with Belarus, Deividas Matulionis, national security adviser to Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, stated, LRT reported. Earlier, Belarus released 123 political prisoners in exchange for the US lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilisers. Also, Belarus pledged to stop the incursion of smuggler balloons into Lithuanian airspace. Lithuania has halted transit shipments…
Leaders of the three Baltic States took part in the first Eastern Flank Summit, which was organised by Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, LETA reported. The summit was also attended by leaders from Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Sweden as well as EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius. Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal noted that Europe’s eastern…
Most Latvians are satisfied with their lives, according to a new Eurobarometer survey conducted in October 2025, LETA reports. The survey showed that 84% of Latvian residents were satisfied with their lives, which was the highest figure ever recorded and almost unchanged from spring 2025. Respondents cited rising prices, inflation, and cost of living (33%),…
Estonia’s Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta demanded that the European Commission add the Telegram messaging service to the EU’s list of very large online platforms (VLOP), ERR reports. She said that an independent count showed that the platform clearly had more users than the threshold to be deemed a VLOP. The listing would force Telegram to…