Latvian MEP Vilis Kristopans of the opposition Latvia First (LPV) party will join the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, LETA reports. The group includes many members who are sympathetic towards Russia. Kristopans expects that the number of members in the group will continue to grow. Kristopans served as prime minister of…
Estonia’s primary goals at the NATO summit in Washington include increasing defence spending, closing capability gaps, and maintaining a focus on the threat from Russia, ERR reports. Estonia is pushing for investments in critical defence capabilities such as air defence and ammunition. Estonia supports raising the defence spending target to 2.5-3% of GDP. Additionally, Estonia…
Estonia’s ruling Estonian Reform Party, Social Democratic Party (SDE), and Estonia 200 (E200) have started negotiations on forming a new coalition, ERR reports. The three parties hope to reach an agreement by the end of July 2024. The parties form outgoing Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’s coalition government. The new coalition would be led by Reform’s…
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) is implementing changes to make the institution more customer-friendly towards both residents and businesses, Prime Minister Evika Silina stated, Baltic News Network reports. Speaking after a meeting with VID director general Baiba Smite-Roke, Silina said that VID should become more efficient by reducing tax administration costs. VID plans to develop…
The Estonian government will tighten controls on the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions, Ukrainska Pravda reports. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that attempts to evade sanctions continued to occur on the border with Russia. She noted that the EU’s latest sanctions package exacerbated the threats. The government will therefore replace the present risk-based…
Tax-free income in Estonia totalled EUR 4.15bn in 2023, according to the Ministry of Finance, ERR reports. In 2023, the tax-free income threshold was EUR 704 per month for pensioners and EUR 654 for working-age individuals. The ministry does not have a current forecast on the amount of tax-free income in 2024. Former prime minister…
Lithuania’s opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVZS) and Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) could form a two-party coalition government after the parliamentary elections in October 2024, LVZS chairman Ramunas Karbauskis stated, ELTA reports. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Karbauskis said that the two parties could have a stable majority in parliament. However,…
The leaders of the Baltic States condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s visit to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin, GNA reports. Outgoing Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who has been nominated as the EU’s new foreign policy chief, said that Orban was “exploiting the EU presidency position to sow confusion.” Lithuanian President Gitanas…
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, chairman of the ruling Homeland Union, would make an excellent European commissioner, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte stated, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with Info TV, Simonyte stopped short of confirming that Landsbergis was among the candidates for the position, noting that negotiations were still ongoing. President Gitanas Nauseda expects…