Baltic transport ministers called for increased EU funding for strategic transport infrastructure projects, The Baltic Times reports. The ministers insisted that the Connecting Europe Facility has to remain one of the key instruments in the EU’s next multiannual financial framwork as of 2028, with sufficient funding for cross-border transport, energy, and electronic communications projects. They…
Estonia’s Ministry of Climate will propose legislation to support the development of more wind farms both on land and at sea, ERR reports. Climate Minister Yoko Alender said that the ministry would create a 20-year support plan for offshore wind farms. The ministry plans to hold an auction for offshore wind capacity in the first…
Estonia’s air quality can be rated “good” overall, according to the Ministry of Climate, ERR reports. Most pollution in Estonia comes from vehicle exhaust fumes, improper use of heating stoves, and similar sources. A study conducted by the University of Tartu in 2022 showed that air pollution causes around 1,200 premature deaths annually in Estonia,…
Police in Lithuania have recorded several acts of vandalism targeting Belarusians living in Vilnius recently, BNS reports. A message, “No place for Belarusian parasites here,” was painted in red on the street outside the Dapamoga refugee shelter. Also, windows of a Belarusian museum and a chapel where Belarusians usually pray were smashed. Belarusian opposition leader…
The presidents of Lithuania and Poland, Gitanas Nauseda and Andrzej Duda, have signed a declaration on deepening bilateral defence and security ties, Baltic News Network reports. The presidents made the declaration during Nauseda’s official visit to Poland. At the same time, Lithuanian and Polish officials signed cooperation agreements on cyber security and defence industry, TVP…
The foreign ministers of Estonia and Finland, Margus Tsahkna and Elina Valtonen, called for allowing Ukraine to attack military targets inside Russia using Western weapons, YLE reports. They were speaking at a joint press conference in Helsinki. The two ministers discussed support for Ukraine, security in the Baltic Sea region, other foreign and security policy issues,…
Lithuania’s Vilnius Regional Court has told the prosecutor to ask the European Parliament to strip MEP Petras Grazulis of his parliamentary immunity, BNS reports. Earlier, Grazulis was charged with expressing contempt for members of the LGBT community. The case was put on hold after he was elected MEP. In May 2022, after the Lithuanian parliament,…
The Latvian government will freeze public funding for political parties in 2025, Prime Minister Evika Silina announced, LSM reports. She said that coalition parties had approved the proposal to halt the indexation of state support for parties. The government’s austerity measures have required ministries to cut spending in the public sector. Altogether 12 political parties…
Lithuania should spend at least 3.5% of its GDP on defence each year, President Gitanas Nauseda stated, BNS reports. He said that military spending should be increased “year after year” to implement plans to modernise the Lithuanian Armed Forces (LGP) and host a full German brigade in the country. Meanwhile, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian…