The European Commission will refer Estonia to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failure to transpose the European Competition Network (ECN+) Directive into national legislation, ERR reports. The ECN+ Directive enables national competition authorities to enforce EU antitrust rules more effectively by ensuring their independence, resources, and enforcement tools. EU member states were required…
Senior officials from the Baltic states, Poland, and the European Commission met in Brussels and pledged to accelerate the synchronisation of the Baltic electricity grids with the continental European system, ERR reports. The current deadline for the synchronisation project is at the end of 2025. Timo Tatar, undersecretary of Estonia’s Ministry of Environment, said that…
The Estonian government wants to bring forward Estonia’s EU presidency, now slated for 2031, BNS reports. The government argues that organising the EU presidency would be difficult as Estonia will hold parliamentary elections that year. Estonia is due to preside over the EU Council for the first half of 2031. The government suggests switching the…
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, met with his Georgian counterpart, Ilia Darchiashvili, in Vilnius on 11 July 2023, BNS reports. The two ministers discussed the regional security situation and Georgia’s EU membership prospects. Landsbergis noted that Georgia (Sakartvelo) was a NATO partner resisting Russia’s imperialist ambitions and hybrid threats. He urged Georgia to make full…
Latvia’s Prime Minister, Krisjanis Karins, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met in Riga on 10 July 2023, The Baltic Times reports. The two prime ministers stressed the need for cooperation in strengthening the EU’s external borders and controlling external migration. Karins noted that Italy and Latvia were developing a similar understanding on migration and…
The threat from Russia is and will remain real, and all NATO allies must understand and take it “extremely seriously,” Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking at the opening debate of a NATO conference in Vilnius, Kallas noted that all allies contributed 2% of GDP to defence in 1988 because…
The European Commission has granted EUR 6.8mn of financial support for Latvia’s agricultural sector, LSM reports. Latvia had requested EUR 11mn of EU aid. Agriculture Minister Didzis Smits noted that the support accorded to Latvia was proportionally the largest amount of aid granted. The support is intended for industries negatively impacted by the war in…
The foreign ministers of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) have signed a joint declaration in support of Ukraine’s membership of the EU and NATO, ERR reports. The ministers stated that Ukraine’s future was within the “Euro-Atlantic family.” The declaration said that it was time to use the “Baltic experience of the 1990s” in…
Finland’s new defence minister, Antti Häkkänen, visited Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, to meet with his Estonian counterpart, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, on 6 July 2023, ERR reported. The two ministers discussed bilateral defence cooperation, regional security, the NATO summit in Vilnius, assistance to Ukraine, and EU defence support. Pevkur said that Finland’s accession to NATO opened…