
Baltic Sea region


Migration and terrorism will push West to cooperate with Russia – Lithuanian intelligence
Counter-terrorism efforts and the migration crisis will reduce the international community’s attention on the security situation in Eastern Europe and will have a negative effect upon Lithuania, according to Lithuanian intelligence assessments. […]








NATO-Russia confrontation ‘real possibility’ in Baltic Sea – Swedish general
Russia’s provocative actions and NATO‘s build up in the Baltic Sea region may lead to confrontations, the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces General Micael Byden has warned. […]


Official launch of LitPol Link and NordBalt marks new era of Lithuanian energy
Lithuanian leaders and their counterparts from the Baltic states and Poland are on Monday officially inaugurating the interconnections LitPol Link and NordBalt, lauded as key projects to usher the country into the new era of energy independence. […]


Analysts: Lithuania’s competitiveness progress is slow and not where it’s needed
A Baltic Sea region index compiled by Swedbank shows that despite considerable progress, Lithuania is still not as competitive as it could be. Lithuania was placed among the top third of the most competitive countries in the world, which is a better result than last year, but essential progress is still needed. […]


Influential US think tank looks into ways of improving security measures in Baltics
On 20 October in Vilnius, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Andrius Krivas, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defence met with a group of experts from the Influential US think tank Atlantic Council, led by Magnus Nordenman, to discuss current challenges to Lithuania’s security, measures to ensure security and potential support from allies in this field. […]


Sweden’s royal couple to visit Lithuania
At the invitation of Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his wife Queen Silvia will arrive on an official state visit to Lithuania on 7-9 October. […]


Minister Masiulis: NordBalt opens Scandinavian electricity market surplus for Lithuania and Latvia
The 453-kilometer long 700 megawatt NordBalt power interconnection is one of the most important projects in the history of Baltic countries’ energy sectors. Although the submarine cable is laid between the coasts of Lithuania and Sweden, the project will equally benefit to Lithuania and Latvia,” said the Minister of Energy, Rokas Masiulis, to Latvian reporters during a meeting in Klaipėda. […]





Opinion: Potsdam Conference and Russia’s crooked-mirror politics in Kaliningrad
Most of the time history can’t be put to bed even though agreements to end wars have been concluded, victors have drawn new boundary lines, promises made, but they soon get either forgotten or swept under the rug, as if they weren’t there. The story of the northern part of former East Prussia (now known as the Kaliningrad exclave) is a good example of a conveniently ignored agreement made at the 1945 Potsdam conference to resolve the fate of the territory at a later peace treaty with Germany. […]


LitPol Link to receive EUR 27m funding from EU
The European Commission and European Union (EU) member-states have approved financial support in the amount of EUR 27.4 million for the LitPol Link power interconnection between Lithuania and Poland, Litgrid AB, the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator, reports. […]


Nordic, Baltic and Poland are Europe’s new front-line states, security report says
Europe’s new front-line states are the Nordic countries, Baltic countries, plus Poland, which share a common concern about a “revisionist and rapidly-rearming Russia”, according to the Baltic Sea Security Report by the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). […]








Electricity cheaper throughout Baltic Sea region in March
In March the electricity price was the lowest since the Nord Pool Spot have been launched in Lithuania in 2012. The average electricity price in the Lithuanian bidding area was 32 EUR/MWh. The demand of electricity fell by 8 percent due to warmer weather and lengthening daylight. Compared to March last year, the price decreased by 23 percent in the Lithuanian market, the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator Litgrid reports. […]


LitPol Link to be delivered on schedule
Construction of the the high voltage power interconnection LitPol Link between Poland and Lithuania is progressing according to the planned timeline. […]



Lithuanian foreign minister calls for implementation of NATO’s Wales decisions
At a meeting with NATO‘s Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius called for rapid implementation of the decisions made at the Alliance’s Wales summit. […]






Baltic states – among world’s hot spots of 2015?
The news agency Bloomberg has included the Baltic states in the list of places in the world where geopolitical tensions could run high next year. […]






More than EUR 263m of EU investments approved for Baltic Sea Region’s new 2014-2020 transnational programme
The European Commission has on Friday adopted a programme for the 8 EU countries and neighbouring countries in the Baltic Sea Region. Focussing on key issues such as the environmental status of the Baltic Sea or maritime safety and security, the programme is worth more than €263 million from EU investments alone. […]


Litgrid borrows EUR 65m from European Investment Bank
On 18 December 2014, the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator Litgrid and European Investment Bank (EIB) signed an agreement on a EUR 65m loan for a maximum period of sixteen years. The funds will be used to partially finance implementation of LitPol Link project and the new power line from Alytus to Kruonis PSHP (Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Plant), Litgrid said in a statement. […]