Latvia’s state debt will remain below 50% of GDP in the coming years, Kaspars Abolins, head of the Latvian State Treasury, assured, LETA reports. Currently, the state debt stands at slightly over EUR 18bn, which is around 44% of GDP and one of the lowest in the EU, Abolins noted. The State Treasury expects the…
The three Baltic States, together with Finland, Poland, and Germany, should build a green hydrogen corridor by 2040, according to a feasibility study commissioned by the Nordic and Baltic gas transmission system operators, BNS reports. The 2,500-kilometre corridor would transport up to 2.7 million tonnes of hydrogen fuel per year. The corridor could reduce CO2…
Members of the Estonia-China friendship group of the Estonian parliament will probably no longer travel to China on trips paid for by the host country, the group’s chairman, MP Toomas Kivimägi of the Estonian Reform Party, stated, ERR reports. Earlier, controversy arose when a group of Estonian MPs paid a visit to China, with costs…
Latvia’s National Cyber Security Centre (NKDC) began operations on 1 September 2024, Labs of Latvia reports. NKDC is an agency under the Ministry of Defence and will serve as a single contact point for cyber security issues, oversee the implementation of national cyber security requirements, and develop national cyber security policy initiatives. NKDC will collaborate…
Baltic transport ministers called for increased EU funding for strategic transport infrastructure projects, The Baltic Times reports. The ministers insisted that the Connecting Europe Facility has to remain one of the key instruments in the EU’s next multiannual financial framwork as of 2028, with sufficient funding for cross-border transport, energy, and electronic communications projects. They…
The presidents of Lithuania and Poland, Gitanas Nauseda and Andrzej Duda, have signed a declaration on deepening bilateral defence and security ties, Baltic News Network reports. The presidents made the declaration during Nauseda’s official visit to Poland. At the same time, Lithuanian and Polish officials signed cooperation agreements on cyber security and defence industry, TVP…
Long-time Estonian MP, former prime minister Siim Kallas will step down from the parliament, the Riigikogu, ERR reports. Timo Suslov, secretary general of the Estonian Reform Party, said that Kallas, 75, was stepping down due to health reasons. His seat in the Riigikogu will now be taken up by Reform’s Jüri Jaanson. Kallas said that…
The Latvian government should seek to reduce the costs of the Rail Baltica railway project, the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with Latvijas Radio, Dombrovskis pointed out that not everything could be financed with EU funds. He said that part of the project should be financed from…
Russia’s military intelligence (GRU) has been conducting cyberattacks against Estonia, other NATO and EU states, and Ukraine since 2020, according to the Estonian Internal Security Service (KAPO), ERR reports. A police investigation identified three GRU officers suspected of involvement in the attacks, and a court has issued international warrants for their arrest in absentia. The…