Lithuania has completed the first phase of procuring joint light tactical vehicles (JLTVs) manufactured by the US defence contractor, Oshkosh Defense, BNS reports. The final batch of 50 JLTVs, part of a 2019 contract for 200 vehicles, recently arrived in Lithuania ahead of schedule. The first 50 JLTVs were delivered in 2021, followed by additional…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has elected MP Daiga Mierina of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) as its new speaker, LSM reports. She replaces United List’s Edvards Smiltens. Mierina was only elected at the fourth ballot after the two front-runners for the post, Gunars Kutris of ZZS and United List’s Maris Sprindzuks, were…
The Lithuanian men’s basketball team won against the US on 3 September 2023, advancing to the quarter-finals of the FIBA World Cup played in the Philippines, LRT reports. Following the win, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda tweeted to US President Joe Biden, saying that “it is just basketball; we are still allies.” Meanwhile, the municipality of the…
The US Senate has authorised the allocation of USD 228mn (EUR 208mn) of additional funding to strengthen security cooperation with the Baltic States in 2024, LETA reports. Latvian Defence Minister Inara Murniece said that the funding would allow the Baltic States to develop military capabilities and strengthen the security of NATO’s eastern flank. In 2022,…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda criticised Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas for sharing information on Lithuania’s plans to sign a letter of intent on the purchase of Leopard tanks from Germany, LRT reports. Nauseda said that the State Defence Council (VGT) had agreed that restricted information “should not be shared on Facebook right after the meeting.” He…
The Estonian developer of autonomous vehicles, Clevon, plans to delist its shares from the Nasdaq First North stock exchange without taking over the shares of the company’s minority shareholders, ERR reports. Earlier, the loss-making company announced that it would delist and buy out its minority shareholders. However, Clevon has failed to find an investor to…
Estonia has extradited Russian citizen Vadim Konoshchenok, suspected employee of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), to the US, BNS reports. Konoshchenok was arraigned at a federal court in New York on 14 July 2023. He is suspected of violating sanctions by smuggling strictly regulated electronics and tactical ammunition of US origin from Estonia to Russia….
The decision of NATO’s Vilnius summit not to invite Ukraine to join the alliance reflects the view of the leaders of the bigger Western countries on how the war in Ukraine may end, Estonian MP Raimond Kaljulaid (SDE), head of the Estonian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, says. Writing in an opinion piece for…
Russian President Vladimir Putin was wrong when he thought that the war in Ukraine would break NATO unity, US President Joe Biden said in a speech at Lithuania’s Vilnius University on 12 July 2023, LETA reports. “Putin thought that democratic leaders would be weak, but he thought wrong,” Biden stated. He assured that the US…
