Latvia’s Riga Fertilizer Terminal (RFT) has again asked the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FID) for a waver on EU sanctions in order to resume operations, LSM reports. RFT pledged to isolate the company’s majority owner, sanctioned Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, from the company’s management and profits. However, Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) pointed out that…
Latvia’s Freeport of Riga opened the new cruise season on 3 May 2026, Latvijas Avize reports. The port expects to receive altogether 103 cruise liners in 2026, which would be the highest number in the port’s history. The ships would bring no less than 135,000 tourists to Riga, which also would be an all-time record…
Estonia ranked highest in the Baltic States on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index in 2026, BNS reported. Estonia ranked 3rd on the global index of 180 countries and territories surveyed, which was down from 2nd place in 2025. Meanwhile, Lithuania ranked 15th (14th), and Latvia stood in 17th (15th) place. Estonia…
The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (LBAS) has proposed raising the country’s minimum monthly wage by at least EUR 55 to EUR 835 in 2027, LETA reports. Currently, Latvia’s minimum wage stands at EUR 780 per month, while the tax-free income threshold is EUR 550 per month. LBAS noted that under government rules, the…
Estonia’s state-owned postal services provider, Eesti Post (Omniva), generated total revenues of EUR 154.7mn in 2025, which was up EUR 13.3mn (9%) from 2024, ERR reports. Revenue from parcel and courier services amounted to EUR 109.4mn (up 13%), from postal services to EUR 38.6mn (down slightly), and from universal postal services to EUR 7.6mn (down…
Latvian artists have launched a protest campaign against Russia’s participation in the Venice Biennale arts exhibition in Italy, Ukrainska Pravda reports. The campaign, “Death in Venice”, was organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LLMC) together with the Latvian national pavilion at the exhibition. The Latvian artists stressed that institutional neutrality in relation to…
Officials in Lithuania have arrested nine individuals accused of plotting murders and sabotage across Europe for Russia’s military intelligence service, GRU, The New York Times reports. Authorities said that the GRU-affiliated network had targeted people who had supported Ukraine or worked against Russia, LRT reported. The network included citizens of Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova,…
If the war in Ukraine comes to a halt, Russia may have a window of opportunity to attack NATO countries in 2027-2029, according to Kaspars Pudans, commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS), Nasha Niva reports. Speaking in an interview with Deutsche Welle, Pudans said that the most probable scenario was that Russia would…
Ukraine “firmly anchored in the European family is in the interest of European security and essential for Europe’s future as a geopolitical power and economic actor,” the foreign ministers of the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) countries stated, ERR reports. Following their two-day meeting in Estonia’s Kuressaare on 29-30 April 2026, the ministers expressed support for Ukraine’s…
