The Baltic Assembly and the Nordic Council have agreed on new priorities of cooperation at their annual summit in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, BNS reports. In the 2024-2026 period, the two parliamentary cooperation organisations will focus on supporting Ukraine’s reconstruction and on defence against cyber threats and disinformation. Also, the eight parliaments will promote democracy…
Lithuania’s opposition Union of Democrats for Lithuania (DSVL) will withdraw from a national defence agreement signed by all parliamentary parties in July 2022, BNS reports. Under the deal, the parties pledged to keep defence spending above 2.5% of GDP and increase the number of military conscripts. DSVL announced its exit from the pact after the…
A cyber attack disrupted ticket sales for Estonia’s passenger train operator, Elron, on 20 September 2023, ERR reports. Ticket sales were disrupted at POS terminals, on trains, and online. Passengers could pay for tickets by cash on the train, however. The disruption was due to repeated DDoS attacks by supporters of Russia against the provider…
The Russian NGO, Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which was founded by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, has asked the Baltic States to reconsider a ban on cars with Russian licence plates, LRT reports. FBK chairwoman Maria Pevchikh published letters that the organisation sent to Baltic governments, arguing that the ban undermined and discredited sanctions against…
Lithuania’s Ministry of Interior will ask the parliament, the Seimas, to extend the validity of foreigner’s passports from one to three years, BNS reports. The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) issues foreigner’s passports to foreign nationals with Lithuanian residency who are unable to obtain a travel document from their country of origin. The Belarusian government has…
The Baltic States have banned motor vehicles with Russian license plates from entering, ERR reports. Earlier, the European Commission issued new guidelines on EU sanctions, according to which cars registered in Russia are not allowed to enter EU territory. The ban applies to the entry of both commercial and private vehicles through the borders with…
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,…
Estonia and Latvia have signed a contract to buy IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence systems from Germany’s Diehl Defence, BNS reports. The deal, worth nearly EUR 400mn, is the biggest single defence contract in Estonian history. The procurement will include launchers, radars, fire control centres, and missiles. The first systems are due to be delivered…
Lithuania has sent over 4.5mn rounds of ammunition to Ukraine, the Defence Ministry announced, BNS reports. Lithuania’s military assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion totals EUR 0.5bn. The government plans to send a further EUR 200mn of military aid to Ukraine in 2024-2026. Overall, Lithuania’s total aid to Ukraine amounts to…