Russian President Vladimir Putin was wrong when he thought that the war in Ukraine would break NATO unity, US President Joe Biden said in a speech at Lithuania’s Vilnius University on 12 July 2023, LETA reports. “Putin thought that democratic leaders would be weak, but he thought wrong,” Biden stated. He assured that the US…
Latvia’s Prime Minister, Krisjanis Karins, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met in Riga on 10 July 2023, The Baltic Times reports. The two prime ministers stressed the need for cooperation in strengthening the EU’s external borders and controlling external migration. Karins noted that Italy and Latvia were developing a similar understanding on migration and…
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) does not have information that would indicate that Russia’s private military company, Wagner Group, currently poses a direct threat to Latvia, LETA reports. VDD said that it obtained information on Wagner Group’s activities constantly and continued to assess the risks associated with the mercenary group to both national and regional…
The Nordic and Baltic countries and Poland expect Sweden’s membership of NATO to increase security in the Baltic Sea region, The Baltic Times reports. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Sweden was joining NATO as a “motivated partner,” after 200 years of non-alignment. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö reiterated that Finland’s membership of NATO was…
The threat from Russia is and will remain real, and all NATO allies must understand and take it “extremely seriously,” Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking at the opening debate of a NATO conference in Vilnius, Kallas noted that all allies contributed 2% of GDP to defence in 1988 because…
The speaker of Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, Edvards Smiltens, met with a delegation of parliamentarians from Japan in Riga, LETA reports. The delegation was led by Hirofumi Nakasone, chairman of the Latvia and Lithuania friendship groups of the upper house of Japan’s parliament, the House of Councillors (Sangiin). The parliamentarians discussed bilateral economic cooperation and…
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, carried a total of 1.911 million passengers in the first half of 2023, which was up 51.7% from 1.312 million in the same period of 2022, LETA reports. The number of flights performed totalled 20,290, which was up 19.9% from 16,920 a year earlier. CEO Martin Gauss attributed the increase…
The defence ministers of Canada and Latvia have signed a commitment to increase the size of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence battle group in Latvia to a brigade, LETA reports. Under the plan, Canada will double its number of troops in Latvia. Canada will deploy 2,200 troops, with the ability to add hundreds more as needed,…
Latvia’s Procurement Monitoring Bureau (IUB) has barred the state-owned provider of electronic communication services, Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), to continue procurement and sign contracts for mobile telephony services, LETA reports. IUB told LVRTC to change the procurement rules. Earlier, mobile telecommunications operator Bite Latvija complained about the terms of LVRTC’s procurement, saying…
