Estonia: Ukraine to remain number one foreign policy priority: official

Ukraine will remain the number one priority of Estonia’s foreign policy for as long as the war continues, Jonatan Vseviov, secretary general of Estonia’s Foreign Ministry, said, ERR reports. If Ukraine manages to survive winter 2024-2025, then spring-summer 2025 could be easier, he suggested. Estonia will never accept changes to European borders through military aggression,…

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Baltic: Latvia to preside over Baltic Council of Ministers in 2025

Latvia has taken over the presidency of the Baltic Council of Ministers (BCM) for 2025, LSM reports. The focus of the Latvian presidency will be on regional security and resilience, support for Ukraine, regional connectivity, energy security, and investments, the Latvian Foreign Ministry stated. Latvia would pay special attention to external borders, civil protection and…

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Latvia: Doubts about hosting Russian independent media

Several media outlets from Russia moved their editorial offices to Latvia after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, LSM reports. Latvia has since issued over 6,000 visas to Russian citizens, of whom 500 are journalists and their family members. Dace Melbarde, parliamentary secretary at Latvia’s Foreign Ministry, said that giving Russian journalists an…

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Estonia: Human rights focus at Freedom Online Coalition

Estonia has taken over the chairship of the Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) from the Netherlands, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports. During the one-year term as chair, Estonia will focus on sharing its experience in e-government and on bridging the global digital divide. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stressed the importance of like-minded countries and…

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Baltic: Malta cancels Russian MFA spokesperson’s visa on Baltic request

Malta has cancelled a visa issued to Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, following joint pressure from the three Baltic states, The Baltic Sentinel reports. According to Russian independent news outlet Meduza, Malta cancelled Zakharova’s visa a day before a ministerial council meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)…

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Baltic: Georgian Foreign Ministry summons Baltic diplomats over sanctions plan

The Foreign Ministry of Georgia summoned the Estonian and Lithuanian ambassadors and the Latvian chargé d’affaires to express its concern over plans to impose sanctions on senior Georgian government officials, Agenda.ge reports. The ministry said that the plans amounted to “interference in Georgia’s internal affairs.” Earlier, the Baltic foreign ministers announced sanctions against several Georgian…

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Lithuania: China expects new government to revive bilateral ties

China hopes that the incoming new government in Lithuania will bring bilateral ties back to the right track, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, China News Service reports. The spokesperson urged the new government to abide by Lithuania’s “political commitment” on diplomatic relations between the two countries and to uphold the so-called One China principle….

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Lithuania: Beijing condemns expulsion of Chinese diplomats

China’s Foreign Ministry has condemned Lithuania’s decision to expel three Chinese diplomats, Reuters reports. The ministry asserted that Lithuania had failed to provide a reason for the expulsions. China reserved the right to take countermeasures, the ministry said. Earlier, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry announced that the expulsions were due to violations of the Vienna Convention on…

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