Lithuania’s new government is not expected to make any major changes in foreign policy, LRT reports. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius named regional security, Baltic cooperation, and strengthening ties with the US as his priorities, BNS and The Baltic Times reported. The government calls for a more united Europe, while maintaining strategic partnerships with Germany, Poland,…
The Latvian government is in talks with a strategic investor for the country’s ailing national airline, airBaltic, Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs revealed, Reuters reported. He said that the potential investor was “a serious partner,” but refused to indicate what stake the investor could acquire. The state’s main condition was that the investor maintain airBaltic’s hub…
A majority of members of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, have signed a letter of protest against China’s new “law on ethnic unity,” BNS reported. In the letter sent to the Chinese embassy in Tallinn, the MPs noted that the law was aimed at assimilating ethnic minorities living in China, including Mongols, Tibetans, and Uyghurs….
China appears open to talks on normalising diplomatic relations with Lithuania, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament, Remigijus Motuzas of the ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), stated, BNS reports. Speaking after a briefing by Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, Motuzas said that China was “inclined to meet, communicate, and negotiate”…
Russia has closed several railway checkpoints on the borders with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia as of 1 July 2026, The Baltic Times reports. The official notice indicated no end date or reason for the closure. The order applies to the Lyttä, Värtsilä, and Svetogorsk (Enso) checkpoints on Russia’s border with Finland, the Pechory (Petseri) checkpoint…
Every major party in Estonia has added to the state’s debt burden, according to Kaspar Oja, senior economist at the Bank of Estonia, ERR reported. While the biggest budget deficits emerged during the coronavirus pandemic, Estonia has had structural deficits every year since 2017, Oja noted. His analysis found that when in government, the Conservative…
Lithuania’s incoming new coalition government may try to resume official dialogue with neighbouring Belarus on reopening transport links and trade, The Baltic Sentinel reports. Political analyst Vytautas Bruveris noted that many rural voters of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) and the Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens (LVZS), especially in eastern Lithuania, were tired…
Latvia’s new prime minister, Andris Kulbergs, suggested “scaling down” the Rail Baltica railway project, ERR reported. Speaking at a joint press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal in Tallinn, Kulbergs said that he was looking at a potential solution to the project’s funding gap that would be “out of the box.” He said that…
Latvia’s central bank, the Bank of Latvia, has lowered its GDP forecast for 2026-2028 markedly, LSM reports. GDP growth will amount to 2.0% in 2026, to 2.4% in 2027, and to 3.0% in 2028, according to the latest forecast. In December 2025, the central bank had projected that the GDP would grow by 2.8% in…