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…
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 national air carrier, airBaltic, will open flights on eleven new routes in May 2024, including seven from Latvia, two from Estonia, and two from Lithuania, BNS reports. The company will open flights from Riga to Alicante, Chisinau, Ljubljana, Pristina, Skopje, Sofia, and Tirana. Also, airBaltic will open flights from Tallinn to Billund in Denmark…
The Baltic States and Poland have agreed to close their borders with Belarus in the event of a “critical incident” involving the Russian private military company, Wagner Group, Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski announced, TVP World reports. Following their meeting in Warsaw, the Baltic and Polish interior ministers demanded that Belarus expel the Wagner mercenaries…
The number of foreign tourists visiting Estonia totalled 1,110,431 in the second quarter of 2023, which was up 19% from the same period of 2022, according to data from the Bank of Estonia, ERR reports. Foreign tourists spent a total of EUR 375mn in Estonia, which was EUR 62mn more than a year earlier. Meanwhile,…
Estonia’s state-owned port operator, Port of Tallinn (Tallinna Sadam), generated sales revenue of EUR 57mn in the first half of 2023, which was almost unchanged from a year earlier, ERR reports. The port’s adjusted EBITDA fell by 12% from a year earlier. Net profit stood at EUR 7mn, which was down 42% over a year….
Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, posted the highest ever revenue and profit in the company’s history in the first half of 2023, LSM reports. The company’s six-month revenue totalled EUR 291mn, which was up 52% from a year earlier. Net profit amounted to EUR 14.6mn, which was up sharply from a net loss of EUR…
Lithuania has deemed 1,164 Belarusian and Russian nationals a threat to national security, according to the Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD), BNS reports. Altogether 910 Belarusian and 254 Russian citizens were denied residence permits or visas after the introduction of a mandatory questionnaire, which includes questions on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Lithuania restricted the…
The chairmen of the foreign affairs committees of the Baltic parliaments — Marko Mihkelson from Estonia, Rihards Kols from Latvia, and Zygimantas Pavilionis from Lithuania — will pay a joint visit to Taiwan, ERR reports. They will meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Legislative Yuan president You Si-kun, Prime Minister Chen Chien-jen, Foreign Minister Joseph…