Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina sharply criticised Defence Minister Andris Spruds after drones from Russia crashed in Latvian territory, LETA reported. Silina pointed to the lack of timely warning to local residents about the incoming drones. The government’s EUR 2bn defence budget means that people will expect accountability from the minister, she stated. Silina said…
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal suggested that former president Kersti Kaljulaid could be nominated as a candidate in presidential elections due in September 2026, ERR reports. Michal noted that incumbent president Alar Karis did not seem to have sufficient support in the parliament, the Riigikogu, to be reelected for a second term. Earlier, Lauri Läänemets,…
Several unmanned aerial vehicles entered Latvian airspace from Russia, and two of them crashed in eastern Latvia, in the early morning hours of 7 May 2026, according to the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS), LETA reported. One of the drones crashed at East-West Transit’s oil storage facility in Rezekne, LETA reported. No significant damage and…
Estonia’s national-conservative opposition party, Fatherland (Isamaa), remained the country’s most popular party in April 2026, according to Norstat’s poll for the Institute for Societal Research (YI), ERR reports. Fatherland’s support stands at 26.4%, followed by the opposition Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) with 22.4%, the populist opposition Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) with 14.1%, and…
Opposition parties in Latvia have seized on culturally divisive issues to garner support ahead of the parliamentary elections in October 2026, New Eastern Europe reports. Earlier, the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, voted to withdraw from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women. Opposition parties claim that the human rights treaty is…
Estonia’s new motor vehicle tax and registration fee, which were introduced as of 1 January 2025, generated total revenue of EUR 151mn in 2025, ERR reports. Registration fee revenue totalled EUR 64.2mn in 2025, which was more than 50% less than the projected EUR 137mn. Meanwhile, revenue from the motor vehicle tax was close to…
Estonia’s populist opposition party, the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE), has nominated its founder and former chairman, Mart Helme, as its presidential candidate, ERR reports. Helme said that his key concepts were “nation, family, and home.” Were he to be elected president, Helme said that his first task would be to “restore constitutional order…
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,…
Latvia’s Riga city court has issued an arrest warrant for former MP Aleksejs Roslikovs of the pro-Russian opposition party, For Stability, who has been charged with inciting national and ethnic hatred, LSM reports. At a press conference in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, Roslikovs suggested that he might not return to Latvia, LETA reported. Earlier, he resigned from…
