Estonia has opened a new military base in the village of Juba, near the southern Estonian town of Võru, ERR reports. The Reedo army base has 14 buildings that can accommodate up to 1,000 Estonian and NATO military personnel. The base is a mustering zone where allied troops can prepare for combat. The construction costs…
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, may gain a new strategic investor either before or after the company’s planned IPO, according to CEO Martin Gauss, LETA reports. The company expects to announce the IPO in the second half of 2024 or in 2025. The goal is to raise EUR 300mn on the stock exchange, ERR reports….
The Estonian government has agreed on switching to need-based social benefits in 2028, Education Minister Kristina Kallas announced, BNS reports. She argued that the state and taxpayers could no longer afford distributing equal support to everyone, and that doing so was not even necessary. Better data would allow the state to provide better personalised services, Kallas…
Latvia’s three-party coalition government remains stable, Prime Minister Evika Silina assured, LSM reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, Silina said that the main issues facing the government included next year’s budget, tax reforms, funding for the Rail Baltica railway project, and the planned IPO of national air carrier airBaltic. However, the Prime Minister implied…
The Baltic and Polish parliamentary committees of European affairs held a joint meeting in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on 15-16 September 2024, BNS reported. The committees urged the EU to strengthen the protection of Poland’s border amid a new surge in migrant flows. Zygimantas Pavilionis, chairman of the European affairs committee of the Lithuanian parliament,…
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, criticised President Gitanas Nauseda for delaying a decision to end investment protection treaties with Russia and Belarus, BNS reports. Landsbergis noted that the government had proposed revoking the treaties back in May 2024. He insisted that Nauseda would have had enough time to refer the issue to the parliament, the…
Baltic and US officials held high-level security consultations in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on 12 September 2024, BNS reports. The meeting was attended by Jonatan Vseviov, secretary general of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Andzejs Vilumsons, state secretary at the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, and US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell….
The Baltic commercial bank, Luminor Bank, has issued EUR 300mn worth of four-year senior preferred bonds, The Baltic Times reports. The new issue was oversubscribed with EUR 1.6bn in orders from over 130 investors, particularly in the UK. The bonds carry a coupon of 4.042%. At the same time, Luminor repurchased EUR 214.1mn of existing bonds…
Estonian President Alar Karis stressed that the state budget must remain under strict parliamentary control, BNS reported. Speaking at the opening of the autumn session of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, Karis said that MPs should not engage in bargaining for budget funds for their supporters, but instead focus on making the most important decisions…