Taiwan’s largest commercial bank, state-owned Bank of Taiwan, plans to open a representative office in Lithuania, BNS reports, citing business news website Verslo Zinios. The Financial Supervisory Commission of Taiwan has approved the bank’s application to open an office in Lithuania. The Bank of Taiwan said that the office would help expand business operations in…
Annual inflation in the Baltic States was highest in Estonia in June 2024, according to Eurostat data, BNS reports. Estonia’s harmonised annual inflation rate stood at 2.8% in June 2024, compared to 1.5% in Latvia and 1.0% in Lithuania. Compared to May 2024, prices rose by 0.5% in Estonia but remained unchanged in Latvia and…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has voted in favour of withdrawing from the Convention on Cluster Munitions, with 103 MPs in favour, 1 against, and 3 abstentions, BNS reports. Once President Gitanas Nauseda signs the law, Lithuania will withdraw from the convention six months after notification. Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas argued that the convention restricted…
US congressmen Donald Bacon of Nebraska and Salud Carbajal of California have visited the Baltic States, LSM reports. In Latvia, the two members of the US House of Representatives met with Prime Minister Evika Silina, Foreign Minister Baiba Braze, and Defence Minister Andris Spruds to discuss political, economic, and defence cooperation, the NATO summit in…
Lithuania’s EU commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevicius, will step down, having been elected to the European Parliament, BNS reports. He served as European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries since 2019. Sinkevicius has since been elected vice-president of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. Saulius Skvernelis, chairman of the opposition Union of Democrats…
The opposition Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP) remains the country’s most popular political party ahead of the parliamentary elections due in October 2024, according to a Spinter Tyrimai poll for DELFI in June 2024, ELTA reports. The survey showed that 13.8% of respondents would now vote for LSDP, which is up from 13.2% in…
The Baltic States, along with Nordic EU countries and Poland, will not send any ministers to Hungary during the country’s EU presidency, LETA reports. The move is in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Russia. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will coordinate with other EU leaders on whether to attend a European Council…
Lithuania will enforce an EU ban on the entry of vehicles registered in Belarus as of 18 July 2024, LRT reports. The new ban applies to all passenger cars, regardless of the nationality of the owner or driver. Belarusian citizens with valid visas or residence permits can bring their own cars into Lithuania for personal…
The European Commission will allocate an additional EUR 1.2bn of EU funds for the construction of the Rail Baltica railway, the project’s coordinator, RB Rail, announced, LSM reports. Of the sum, around EUR 370mn will go to Estonia, EUR 346mn to Latvia, and EUR 458mn to Lithuania. Together with national co-financing, total available funding will…