A continuing confrontation between Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda and the government has delayed the appointment of a new ambassador to neighbouring Poland, LRT reports. The post has been vacant since September 2023, with Nauseda rejecting two candidates suggested by the government. The Office of the President has proposed changing the procedure for appointing ambassadors by…
Poland’s Bank Polska Kasa Opieki (Bank Pekao) plans to open a branch in Lithuania, according to Gediminas Simkus, head of the Bank of Lithuania, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with 15min, Simkus said that Bank Pekao’s representatives visited Lithuania in December 2023. He was optimistic about the bank setting up operations in Lithuania. Sources…
Six European gas transmission system operators, including Gasgrid Finland, Estonia’s Elering, Latvia’s Conexus Baltic Grid, Lithuania’s Amber Grid, Poland’s Gaz-System, and Germany’s ONTRAS, have signed a contract with AFRY Management Consulting for a pre-feasibility study on the Nordic-Baltic Hydrogen Corridor, The Baltic Times reports. The project aims to develop cross-border hydrogen transmission infrastructure from Finland…
The presidents of the Baltic States and Poland met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss the transport of Ukrainian grain through EU ports, ERR reports. Estonian President Alar Karis noted that shipping Ukrainian grain via Baltic ports required cooperation with Poland. Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian parliament,…
Latvia’s state-owned Eiropas Dzelzcela Linijas (EDZL) has awarded a contract to build the Rail Baltica railway in Latvia to the European joint venture, ERB Rail Baltica, for EUR 3.7mn, LSM reports. ERB Rail Baltica was established by France’s Eiffage Génie Civil, Italy’s Rizzani de Eccher, and Poland’s Budimex. EDZL’s procurement commission excluded Türkiye’s IC Ictas…
Latvia’s state-owned airline, airBaltic, will open flights on several new routes from the Baltic States and Finland in winter 2023/2024 and summer 2024. The company will open flights from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to Gran Canaria and Tenerife in Spain, Turin in Italy, and Dubai in the UAE in October 2023, LRT reports. In summer…
Latvia’s State Border Guard (VRS) has asked the government to close the Silene checkpoint on the country’s border with Belarus due to a sudden surge in illegal border crossings in recent weeks, LSM reports. Latvia has two checkpoints on the Belarus border at Silene and Patarnieki. The Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS), the State Police,…
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, will open flights on eleven new routes in May 2024, including seven from Latvia, two from Estonia, and two from Lithuania, BNS reports. The company will open flights from Riga to Alicante, Chisinau, Ljubljana, Pristina, Skopje, Sofia, and Tirana. Also, airBaltic will open flights from Tallinn to Billund in Denmark…
The Lithuanian government does not plan to close more checkpoints on the border with Belarus in the near future, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte announced, LRT reports. However, she said that the possibility to do so remained, given that security threats persisted. A complete closure of the Belarus border would only be done in coordination with…