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…
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…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has approved the nomination of former prime minister, MEP Andrius Kubilius for Lithuania’s EU commissioner, BNS reports. Altogether 70 MPs voted in favour and 24 against, while 15 abstained. Kubilius said that Lithuania should seek portfolios related to defence, security, and EU enlargement in the new European Commission. He noted…
Lithuania’s likely EU commissioner nominee, MEP Andrius Kubilius, named security, defence, or EU enlargement as his possible portfolios on the European Commission (EC), BNS reports. Asta Skaisgiryte, chief foreign policy adviser to President Gitanas Nauseda, also noted that EU enlargement and defence were focus policy areas for Lithuania. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas,…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has suggested that he does not want to see Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis appointed to the European Commission (EC), BNS reports. Nauseda argued that Lithuania should seek an economic portfolio rather than a foreign policy one in the new commission, stressing that economic portfolios were equally important. He pointed out that…
Lithuania’s EU commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevicius, will step down, having been elected to the European Parliament, BNS reports. He served as European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries since 2019. Sinkevicius has since been elected vice-president of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. Saulius Skvernelis, chairman of the opposition Union of Democrats…
Latvian MEP Roberts Zile has been reelected one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament, LSM reports. He is the only Baltic MEP elected to the post so far. Zile is a member of the opposition National Alliance, which is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. He has served as MEP…
The European Commission will allocate an additional EUR 1.2bn of EU funds for the construction of the Rail Baltica railway, the project’s coordinator, RB Rail, announced, LSM reports. Of the sum, around EUR 370mn will go to Estonia, EUR 346mn to Latvia, and EUR 458mn to Lithuania. Together with national co-financing, total available funding will…