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…
The Latvian government has approved an updated national energy and climate plan, aimed at meeting the EU’s climate targets by 2030, LSM reports. The plan outlines five key areas: decarbonisation and renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy security, integration with the EU’s internal energy markets, and research, innovation, and competitiveness. The plan includes around 250 measures…
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, chairman of the ruling Homeland Union, would make an excellent European commissioner, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte stated, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with Info TV, Simonyte stopped short of confirming that Landsbergis was among the candidates for the position, noting that negotiations were still ongoing. President Gitanas Nauseda expects…
The Latvian language technology company, Tilde, has received funding from the European Commission (EC) to develop a large language model (LLM) for smaller European languages, LRT reports. The company won the EC’s Large AI Grand Challenge competition, which includes an award of EUR 250,000 and access to Europe’s most powerful supercomputer, LUMI, in Finland. Arturs…
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has pledged not to comment on domestic politics if she is appointed as the EU’s foreign policy chief, ERR reports. She will be stepping down after over three years in office. Despite challenges and tensions within the ruling coalition during her tenure, Kallas acknowledged the honour of serving and expressed…
Lithuanian MEP-elect Virginijus Sinkevicius has been elected as one of the six vice chairpersons of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament, BNS reports. Sinkevicius served as the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries in the outgoing European Commission. He is a member of the opposition Union of Democrats for Lithuania…
Estonia’s outgoing prime minister, Kaja Kallas, has picked Vivian Loonela, head of the European Commission’s representation in Estonia, as her chief of staff if she is confirmed as EU’s foreign policy chief, ERR reports. Before her current position, Loonela served as the head of the Estonian delegation at the European Commission. The European Parliament will…
A private meeting between Gabrielius Landsbergis, chairman of Lithuania’s conservative Homeland Union (TS-LKD), and MP Eugenijus Gentvilas of the Lithuanian Liberal Movement (LLS) has highlighted tensions within the country’s coalition government, LRT reports. The meeting, initiated by Landsbergis, occurred after a period of strained communication. The opposition surmised that the meeting likely involved the possible…
Estonia’s raw milk production per dairy cow rose by 5% in 2023 from the year before, which was the highest increase in 31 years, according to a report from the European Commission, ERR reports. In terms of milk production per cow, Estonian farms are second only to Denmark in the EU, Tanel-Taavi Bulitko, CEO of…