The foreign ministers of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) are meeting in the Latvian capital, Riga, on 6-7 September 2023, LSM reports. The ministers will discuss regional and energy security, hybrid threats, support for Ukraine, and cooperation in international organisations. Latvia coordinates NB8 cooperation in 2023. Latvia’s focus is on strengthening the rules-based…
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has invited the Vatican’s representative in Lithuania for a conversation after Pope Francis gave statements praising Russia, BNS reports. Speaking online to a group of Catholic Russians in Saint Petersburg, Pope Francis said that they were “heirs of the great Mother Russia” and of an “empire of great culture and great humanity.”…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will make efforts to ensure that Germany’s brigade is deployed to Lithuania by 2026, according to his chief foreign policy adviser, Asta Skaisgiryte, BNS reports. Germany’s chief of defence, General Carsten Breuer, said that Germany would begin deploying the brigade in early 2024. Nauseda met with Breuer in Vilnius to discuss…
The three Baltic States have joined the G7’s Declaration of Support for Ukraine, ERR reports. The declaration aims to provide Ukraine with sustained political, military, financial, and economic assistance through bilateral agreements. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte expressed their “unwavering support” for Ukraine until…
Estonia should strengthen cooperation with Taiwan and consider opening a Taiwanese representative office (Taipei Mission) in Tallinn, Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, stated, ERR reports. Speaking after a joint visit by the heads of the foreign affairs committees of Baltic parliaments to Taiwan, Mihkelson noted that…
Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) has proposed a reshuffle of key ministerial posts in his three-party coalition government, LETA reports. Karins proposed that National Alliance MP Rihards Kols become foreign minister and that the United List take over the Ministry of Economy and New Unity the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development….
Estonia should prioritise trade with free democratic societies, where the political risk is smallest, Estonian MEP Urmas Paet (Reform/Renew Europe), deputy chairman of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, argues. Writing in an opinion piece for ERR, Paet criticised Estonia’s state-run export promotion agency, Enterprise Estonia, for advocating closer economic ties with Vietnam, which has…
The chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of the Baltic parliaments — Marko Mihkelson from Estonia, Rihards Kols from Latvia, and Zygimantas Pavilionis from Lithuania — will pay a joint visit to Taiwan, ERR reports. They will meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Legislative Yuan president You Si-kun, Prime Minister Chen Chien-jen, Foreign Minister Joseph…
The Lithuanian government has nominated Rasa Jankauskaite as the country’s new ambassador to South Africa, BNS reports. If approved by President Gitanas Nauseda, Jankauskaite will assume office as of 1 September 2023. She said that one of her goals was to agree on visa-free travel for Lithuanian citizens to South Africa, which has a large…