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German-speaking experts sign petition on Ukraine: Securing peace instead of rewarding expansion
An appeal, by 142 German-speaking experts on Eastern Europe, calls for a reality-based and not illusions-guided Russia policy. […]
Latvia
Defence
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Finland invited to become shareholder in Rail Baltica joint venture
Latvia‘s Transport Minister Anrijs Matiss (Unity) has invited Finland to take active part in implementation of the standard-gauge railroad Rail Baltica project and in the work of the Rail Baltica joint venture, noting the project’s importance for the entire Nordic-Baltic region, LETA learned from the Transport Ministry. […]
Vytis Jurkonis: Eastern Partnership is not Eurasian Union, no one is forced if there’s no interest
State Secretary of the Latvian Foreign Ministry Andrejs Pildegovičs met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus Vladimir Makey on the 23rd of January. The visit was formally related to the Latvian Presidency of the EU Council. The Latvian diplomat mentioned a few things, which seem to become traditional at the beginning of any presidential race in Belarus. […]
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Latvian president will not attend 9 May celebrations in Moscow
Latvian President Andris Berzins says it is impossible for him to attend the 9 May “victory day” celebrations in Moscow. […]
Energy
Lithuanian energy minister admits decisions on Visaginas NPP too slow
Lithuanian Energy Minister Rokas Masiulis has admitted that talks with Latvia and Estonia on the multi-billion-euro project for building a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas are proceeding too slowly and called for patience, saying that it will take more than a year until a final decision on the project is made. […]
Energy
Baltics still have no answer if Visaginas NPP competitive, deputy energy minister says
The Baltic countries still have no final answer to the question of whether the multi-billion-euro project for building a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas, in eastern Lithuania, would be sufficiently competitive, Lithuanian Deputy Energy Minister Aleksandras Spruogis said on Friday, adding that the partners remain interested in the project. […]
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3,000km optical fiber network connects Eastern and Western Europe
21 January 2015 marks an official launch of the Baltic Highway, a modern data transmission network, connecting Tallinn (Estonia) and Frankfurt (Germany) via Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania), Warsaw (Poland) and Berlin (Germany). The 3,000km optical fiber network is distinguished for its reliability, low 35 milliseconds latency, capacity of 100G per channel and 9.6 Tbit/s total throughput. […]
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Baltic Assembly president outlines practical cooperation aspects
Baltic Assembly President Giedrė Purvaneckienė on Tuesday pinpointed practical priorities of the Baltic countries’ inter-parliamentary cooperation. […]
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Lithuanian businesses catch up with Estonians in innovation plans
Estonian and Lithuanian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are planning to focus more on innovations in 2015, while the number of Latvian SMEs that are planning to invest in innovations has contracted by 9 percent, according to a study conducted by SEB Baltic. […]
Foreign affairs
Linkevičius discusses bilateral and regional cooperation with Latvian, Estonian and Slovakian foreign ministers
On 16 January, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius met with Miroslav Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Foreign Minister of Latvia, and Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, Foreign Minister of Estonia, who are taking part in the Snow Meeting. […]
Baltic ministers sign Declaration on Energy Security of Supply
On January 14, in Riga, the ministers responsible for energy policy in the three Baltic states signed the Declaration on Energy Security of Supply of the Baltic States, the Ministry of Energy reports. […]
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Stratfor: Poland and Baltic states will continue to promote Ukraine’s Western ties
As the standoff between Russia and the West over Ukraine continues into 2015, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will come to play an increasingly important role. Even before the crisis, the three Baltic states — as well as neighboring Poland — were among the most active EU member states attempting to bring Ukraine closer to the West and to challenge Russia’s role in the former Soviet periphery. Their efforts along these lines will intensify this year. Ultimately, however, more powerful players in the standoff will limit the impacts of their efforts, particularly Germany and the United States. […]
Economy
Euros exceed litas in cash circulation in Lithuania
The amount of euro cash in circulation in Lithuania has already exceeded the amount of litas cash in the market, the governor of the central Bank of Lithuania has said. […]
Economy
Lithuanian Railways under EC anti-trust scrutiny over dismantling track to Latvia
If the European Commission decides that Lietuvos Geležinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, or LG) limited competition in the rail market by removing a railway track to Latvia, Lithuania might consider rebuilding the track or turning to the European Court of Justice, Transport Minister Rimantas Sinkevičius said on Tuesday. […]
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EU Council presidency to be factored into President Bērziņš’ Victory Day invitation to Moscow, foreign minister says
In deciding whether Latvian President Andris Bērziņš should attend Russia‘s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9, he should take into account the fact that Latvia is presiding over the Council of the European Union, said Latvia’s Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs in an interview to the LNT show “900 sekundes”. […]
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