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…
US President Joe Biden has arrived in Lithuania for the NATO summit in Vilnius, LRT reports. Biden’s Air Force One landed at Vilnius International Airport at around 7:15pm. Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken were met at the airport by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and US Ambassador to Lithuania Robert Gilchrist. The US…
NATO leaders and delegations have begun gathering in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, for the defence alliance’s summit due to take place on 11-12 July 2023, BNS reports. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the summit venue, the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre (LITEXPO), on 10 July 2023. Also, Nauseda…
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has assigned Category 1 country designation to Latvia following an audit of the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency (CAA), LSM reports. FAA ascertained that Latvia’s civil aviation regulation and CAA’s supervisory activities complied with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The FAA decision allows Latvian airlines to…
NATO has sent more warships to the Baltic Sea ahead of the defence alliance’s Vilnius summit, Giedrius Premeneckas, commander of the Lithuanian Navy, announced, BNS reports. Premeneckas said that allied ships ensured air surveillance, maritime situation surveillance, and interoperability. The allied naval force includes German, Italian, Polish, and US ships. The NATO summit will take…
Following the imposition of sanctions on Russian timber, Estonia has seen a surge in heavy timber imports from unexpected countries, where forests are assumed to be scarce, Postimees reports. Henrik Välja, CEO of the Estonian Forest and Wood Industries Association (EMPL), said that Russian timber continued to flow into Estonia through an illegal scheme whereby…