- Latvian Coalition agrees on main points of 2022 budget
Latvia's four-party government coalition has reached a political agreement on the 2022 budget, Prime Minister Krisjanis Kariņs (New Unity) told journalists on September 23.
- Lithuania, Poland to seek EU funding for border fence
Lithuania and Poland will seek EU funding for the construction of a fence on the border with Belarus, the Lithuanian Interior Ministry said on September 23.
- Going against the grain: a bright Lithuanian MP paid a heavy price for support of partnership bill
Support for a contentious gender-neutral bill has cost Tomas Tomilinas, a propitious and bright MP of the opposition Farmers and Greens Union (LFGU, LVŽS in Lithuanian), dearly.
- Elena Romanov: “What was crucial in Biden’s win is nothing less than saving the soul of America and restoring its standing in the world”
Then nail-biting presidential election in the United States is over and many heaved a sigh of relief – the race’s winner, Joe Biden, representing the Democrats, is an incredibly seasoned politician and knows the Baltics very well.
- Russia’s soft power in Lithuania – more delicate and multi-layered
When Rimvydas Valatka, an analyst and a signatory of act that secured Lithuania’s independence in 1991, signed up to a new cable TV package recently he was surprised to see - alongside the usual news, sports and sitcoms - at least six stations that broadcast in Russian.
- Belarus’ Tikhanovskaya in Vilnius urges new election, but official Minsk launched counteroffensive
Belarusians demand a new presidential election and the authorities must hear their voice, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the opposition challenger in Belarus’ disputed presidential election, said in Vilnius in her first press conference after she ended her mandatory COVID-19-related quarantine in the Lithuanian capital on August 21.
- Russia’s Anna Plotnikova: “Belarus events can reverberate in Russia loudly”
In mid-August, as of the time of writing the article, Belarus was sizzling, with thousands of Belarusians, unhappy with the results of the highly contested presidential election results, taking to the streets, urging resignation of the country’s president Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for the last 26 years.
- Laima Andrikiene: I could miss the March 11 Independence vote!
This year, as Lithuania is celebrating the 30th jubilee of the restoration of Lithuania’s independence in 1990, Laima Andrikiene, signatory of the March 11 Independence Act, still feels thrilled after the three decades since the landmark event.
- Estonia’s Reform Party firmly headed towards winning EP election
A total of 32 percent of respondents in a recent poll have said they will vote for a candidate of the Reform Party in the elections to the European Parliament at the end of May, which means the party winning at least two mandates if Estonia gets six seats in the next European legislature, Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR reported.
- Juri Ratas of Center Party is set to form a new Estonian Cabinet
Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid may favour the leader of the centre-right Reform Party, Kaja Kallas, as a new prime minister, but the political reality is harsh for the former member of the European Parliament - Estonia‘s parliament rejected Kallas as a new prime minister on April 15.
- Lithuania gears up for presidential election
The closer the presidential election, the more uncertainty.
- Who will vie for seats in the Latvian Saeima elections?
Sixteen political parties and party alliances have been registered with Latvia’s Central Election Commission for the parliamentary elections to be held on 6 October, 2018.
- Progressive forces have always been a minority in Lithuania
Ironically, Vytenis Andriukaitis, who is born into a dissident family in exile in Siberia, is often suspected of a close bromance with the Putin-led Kremlin.
- Lithuanian President targets Russia in speech at UN General Assembly
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite accused Russia of continued aggression in Eastern Europe in her speech at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York on September 19.
- Lithuania amps up its US diplomatic presence with Donald Trump in the White House
With the new US President, Donald Trump, warming up at the Oval Office, officials in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia courteously praise American democracy and the Americans’ choice in the landmark 2016 presidential election.
- Welcome Donald Trump, Baltics! The Presidency To Endure?
As the US President-elect Donald Trump looks eagerly forward to the official inauguration on January 20th, the Baltic leaders, officially, brave up themselves - and the public - that the Twitter-brandishing eccentric and sardonic US leader will tone down the rhetoric and turn out to be a good friend of the Baltics.
- Russia weaponised social media in US election, FireEye says
Russia’s government didn’t just hack and leak documents from US political groups during the presidential campaign: It used social media as a weapon to influence perceptions about the election, according to cybersecurity company FireEye Inc.
- Trump may not be a phenomenon, but just the first sign of broader changes
At the peak of the US presidential race, the world, and the Baltics, is jittery guessing what to expect from the vociferous GOP nominee in the primary, Donald Trump, if he makes it to the White House.
- Give Britain time
“Careful and calm deliberation unties every knot!” a fly-fishing English friend once told me.
- Russia’s parliament ends term with more repression
A couple weeks ago, the Russian State Duma of the sixth convocation held its last plenary session, breaking up ahead of the Sept.