The body of a fourth US Army soldier has been found at the Pabrade training area in eastern Lithuania, US Army Europe and Africa announced, LRT reports. Three of the four missing soldiers were found earlier after an M88 Hercules armoured vehicle was pulled out of a swamp at the training area. The rescue operation…
The Portuguese Air Force (FAP) will take over NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission from the Royal Netherlands Air Force (KLu) at Estonia’s Ämari Air Base, ERR reports. FPA will deploy around 90 military personnel and four F-16M fighter aircraft to the base for four months. The forces will be responsible for securing the airspace over…
There can be no lasting peace in Ukraine without the US, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with TV24, he noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump clearly had serious differences of opinion. However, the most important thing at the moment was not to exacerbate the…
The leaders of the three Baltic States held a video conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss the war in Ukraine and European security on 2 March 2025, ERR reports. Starmer apologised for not inviting the Baltic States to a summit of European leaders in London, LRT reported. Asta Skaisgiryte, chief foreign policy…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda’s chief foreign policy adviser, Asta Skaisgiryte, urged against making “hasty steps” in withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Skaisgiryte called for a regional solution on the issue. She supported a collective withdrawal from the treaty by NATO’s eastern flank or…
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called for a “strong and decisive” response to attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, BNS reports. Speaking during a meeting with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Budrys urged to expand NATO patrols, impose sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet, and revise navigation rules in the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile,…
Latvia will have to raise its defence budget to at least 4% of GDP in the coming years, President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LSMÂ reports. Speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina, Rinkevics insisted that the current defence spending of 3.45% of GDP was not enough. He noted that Latvia had “a rather serious problem”…
Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal will host a summit of Baltic rim NATO countries in Helsinki on 14 January 2025 to discuss the security of critical undersea infrastructure and Russia’s shadow fleet, ERR reports. Political leaders from all Baltic rim NATO countries, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and European Commission…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called for a quick review of restrictions on the export of dual-use goods, BNS reports. Earlier, Economy Minister Lukas Savickas proposed relaxing the restrictions urgently. The previous government banned the export by air of several goods that Russia could use in its war against Ukraine to most third countries. Speaking in…