The crash of Spanish air carrier Swiftair’s cargo plane in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on 25 November 2024 may have been caused by a technical fault or pilot error, LRT reports. One crew member perished in the incident. Surviving crew members had no indication of foul play, and investigators have found no evidence of terrorism….
Lithuanian authorities are investigating allegations that Russian opposition leader, businessman Leonid Nevzlin, was behind an attack against another exiled Russian opposition leader, Leonid Volkov, in Vilnius in March 2024, BNS reports. Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that the allegations made by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) were “serious,” but called on politicians to wait for the…
Estonian Climate Minister Yoko Alender and Finland’s Minister of Environment and Climate, Kai Mykkänen, have signed a memorandum of understanding on increased cooperation in protecting critical undersea energy infrastructure, BNS reports. Under the agreement, Estonia and Finland will set up a steering group to develop their cooperation on ensuring the resilience and security of undersea…
Estonian officials have again refuted suggestions that the rupture of the Balticconnector gas pipeline and two data cables in the Baltic Sea by the Chinese cargo ship, NewNew Polar Bear, in October 2023 was an accident, ERR reports. “You would need to find a very stupid captain” for the incident to have been an accident,…
The Russian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that crashed in Latvia’s eastern Rezekne municipality was an Iranian-designed Shahed drone carrying 90 kg of explosives, the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) announced, LETA reports. The drone’s warhead did not detonate in the crash. NBS deactivated the drone and is now inspecting its components. Janis Garisons, former state…
Estonia and Latvia have joined several other countries in suspending funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), ERR and LETA reported. The move comes after allegations that several members of UNRWA’s staff had taken part in the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on 7 October 2023. The Estonian and Latvian foreign ministries…
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) has stopped over 5,000 shipments of goods for possible violation of EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus, LSM reports. VID has initiated more than 250 criminal cases over sanctions violations, including 114 in 2022 and 144 in 2023. Raimonds Zukuls, director of VID’s customs administration, said that most of the…
The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) has found several Lithuanian citizens with family ties to persons under EU sanctions, BNS reports. LMD started the investigation after media reported that two of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s children have Lithuanian citizenship and may have helped him evade sanctions. LMD is now checking thousands of people and plans to…
The Estonian Internal Security Service (KAPO) has arrested Vyacheslav Morozov, professor of international political theory at the University of Tartu, on suspicion of spying for Russia, ERR reports. Morozov, who is a Russian citizen, was remanded in custody for two months. The University of Tartu terminated his employment contract after the launch of the investigation….