Lithuania’s Culture Minister, Lukas Alsys, called for a systematic shift away from the use of Russian language in public administration, BNS reported. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Alsys stressed that government institutions and municipalities in Lithuania communicated in the state language, Lithuanian. However, the policy of phasing out Russian should take into account…
Lithuania’s conservative opposition Homeland Union has submitted to parliament a draft national agreement on demographics for 2026-2040, ELTA reports. The proposal would expand state support for first-time homebuyers, strengthen family policy and access to services, improve work-life balance, and encourage the return of Lithuanian emigrants. Earlier, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius proposed a cross-party agreement on…
Estonia’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.2% on year in July 2026, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reported. The annual increase in prices was the smallest since April 2021. The average price of goods went up by 1% and services by 3.9%. Compared to June 2026, the CPI rose by 0.5%. Lauri Veski, consumer…
Hourly labour costs in the Baltic States rose the fastest in Lithuania in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat data, ELTA reported. Nominal hourly labour costs in the whole economy rose by 8.6% in Lithuania, 6.2% in Estonia, and 2.3% in Latvia from the first quarter of 2025. Hourly wage costs alone went…
Three political groups in the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, have signed an agreement on a new coalition government, BNS reports. The new ruling coalition will include the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), the Union of Democrats for Lithuania, and the joint parliamentary group of the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens and the Electoral Action…
Estonia’s consumer price index rose by 3.7% on year in May 2026, according to Statistics Estonia, ERR reported. Consumer prices of goods rose by 3.1% and services by 4.6%. The increase in prices was influenced the most by a 10.4% rise in transport costs and 5.4% rise in housing-related costs, both driven up by higher…
A petition initiated by the mayor of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, on stricter language rules for foreigners has collected more than 22,500 signatures, BNS reports. Under the proposal, non-EU residents would be required to have at least A2-level proficiency in Lithuanian after three years of residence. Earlier, Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovic argued that…
Business sentiment in Latvia was positive in the retail and services sectors, but negative in manufacturing and construction in May 2026, according to the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. The retail confidence indicator stood at 3.1%, which was up 1.5 percentage points from April 2026. In services, the seasonally adjusted confidence indicator was 1.6%,…
Estonia’s exports of services totalled nearly EUR 3.3bn in the first quarter of 2026, which was up 4% from the same period of 2025, according to data from Statistics Estonia and the Bank of Estonia. Imports of services totalled around EUR 2.5bn, which was unchanged over a year. Estonia’s trade balance in services showed a…
