The Principality of Monaco may establish a permanent office in the Latvian capital, Riga, The Baltic Times reports. Andris Kuznieks, deputy head of the European Commission’s representation in Latvia, offered premises for regular cultural activities to showcase Monaco. The issue was discussed during a visit to Latvia by Professor Franco Borruto, consultant on health care…
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…
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 new president, Edgars Rinkevics, has appointed his chief policy advisers and aides, LSM reports. Gunda Reire, parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will become head of the presidential chancellery. The president’s chief legal adviser is Kristine Licis, who has served as Latvia’s representative in international institutions. Edvins Severs will continue as the…
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 European Commission’s latest rule of law report urges Estonia to adopt legislation to improve the regulation of political party financing, BNS reports. The report raises concern that there are no transparent and objective rules on the financing of civil society organisations by the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, from the state budget. Also, the report…
The European Commission has approved a financing package of EUR 305mn from the Connecting Europe Facility for transport infrastructure projects in Latvia during the 2021-2027 financial period, the Ministry of Transport announced, Baltic News Network reports. The ministry will allocate the funds to several key initiatives, including EUR 298mn for the Rail Baltica railway project,…
Lithuania has submitted a request to the European Commission, seeking a loan of over EUR 1.8bn from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) for investments, Baltic News Network reports. Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste said that around EUR 1bn would be allocated for loans to businesses and industry, while an additional EUR 700mn would be…