The three Baltic States have joined eight other European countries in calling on the EU to impose tighter restrictions on visas for Russian citizens, ERR reports. The joint letter from the foreign and interior ministers of nine EU member states, Norway, and Iceland stated that “Russians should not be sunning themselves on European beaches while…
Latvia’s security situation has not improved and has become more complex, President Edgars Rinkevics stated, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview on TV24, Rinkevics warned that Russia was becoming more unpredictable and that Latvia must be prepared to respond to various kinds of Russian provocations. At the same time, he noted that the threat posed…
Renewed calls for engagement with Russia do not reflect Europe’s security needs, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stated, BNS reports. Speaking at the opening of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s spring session in the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, Nauseda insisted that Russia has to be “contained, not courted.” He reminded that the future of European security was…
Recent drone incidents in the Baltic States are part of Russia’s strategy to destabilise democratic societies in the region, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated, BNS reports. Speaking after a meeting with Baltic presidents in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, von der Leyen stressed the need for EU unity in support of the three…
NATO plans to assign additional forces to defend the Baltic States, Reuters reports. Military sources revealed that Germany and the Netherlands had agreed to assign the 1 German-Netherlands Corps (1GNC), based in the German city of Münster, to the defence of Estonia and Latvia. The move would facilitate the rapid deployment of forces into the…
Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) has warned against proposals to resume transit shipments of Belarusian fertilisers through the port of Klaipeda, BNS reports. VSD director Remigijus Bridikis noted that such a move would contravene EU sanctions without reducing security threats posed by Belarus. He stressed that the Belarusian regime had not changed its policies of…
Estonia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a criminal investigation of the leadership of the Narva city council over suspected embezzlement, ERR reports. The investigation is looking at possibly illegal payouts to the chairman of the city council, Mihhail Stalnuhhin, and his deputy, Jana Kondrasova. Earlier, city councillors Aleksei Jevgrafov and Jaan Toots of the Estonian…
Europe cannot act as mediator in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated, ERR reports. Speaking in an interview on ERR, he said that Russia was trying to pull Europe into taking the role of mediator so as to escape new sanctions. Russia fears that the EU will impose a…
Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers condemned Russian threats to attack the Baltic States amid Ukrainian drone strikes, Reuters reported. Earlier, Russia claimed that Ukraine was using NATO airspace as cover for drone attacks on Russian targets. In a joint statement, the NB8 foreign ministers rejected “Russia’s blatant disinformation campaign and false claims, supported by Belarus,…
