InternationalRelations

Former German foreign minister suggests Canada should be part of EU

The former German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel has proposed offering Canada partial membership in the European Union. The former German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel has proposed offering Canada partial membership [..]

NATO Secretary General hails Bulgaria’s contributions to Euro-Atlantic security

NATO’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte, visited Bulgaria today (19 December 2024), where he met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivan Kondov, and the Minister of Defence, Atanas Zapryanov, and [..]

Canadian Foreign Minister discusses approach of US president-elect

Newly elected US president Donalds Trump, the nominee of the Republican party, will face a different geopolitical situation than the one that prevailed during his first term in office from [..]

Baltic States agree on sanctions against Georgia regime

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have agreed to impose national sanctions against those who are cracking down on protests in Georgia, outgoing Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced on Sunday. “The three [..]

NATO Military Committee visits Qatar

From 4 to 8 November 2024, the NATO Military Committee was in Qatar for a series of high-level engagements and visits of Qatar’s military education and training facilities. This visit [..]

Officials: Estonia-US relationship not driven by ideological preferences

Ahead of U.S. election, officials said Estonia has close cooperation with both the Democrat and Republican administrations so it does not matter who wins. Speaking to ETV’s “Impulss” for a [..]

Rinkevics congratulates Trump on winning U.S. presidential election

President Edgars Rinkevics congratulates Republican candidate Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential election. In a post on X, Rinkevics says he is looking forward to working with [..]

Latvian foreign minister calls for international review of election in Georgia

Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze appeared before a meeting of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday and said that international organisations should assess all violations that were committed during [..]

City of Tallinn expects US contribution to embassy neighborhood upgrade

Tallinn City Government has submitted a list of streets adjacent to the planned new United States Embassy building which the city government wants to renovate and which it has requested [..]

New ambassador promoting Latvia as travel destination

Latvia’s new ambassador to the Czech Republic, Vilmars Henins, says that he wants to look for ways of promoting Riga and Latvia in Czech travel plans as an attractive and [..]

Ambassador: Latvia, UK should focus on security, defence collaboration

Latvia’s new ambassador to the United Kingdom, Atis Lots, has told the LETA News Agency that Latvia and the UK should focus more on co-operation in the areas of security [..]

Latvia to have new ambassador in US

Elita Kuzma will become the next Ambassador of Latvia to the US, according to information provided by the Chancery of the President of Latvia. She will replace Maris Selga, who [..]

NATO Through Time podcast – NATO’s open door with Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

The NATO Through Time podcast dives deep into NATO’s history, reflecting on how the past influences the present – and future – of the longest-lasting alliance in history. This episode [..]

Lithuania’s FM warns of flight cancellations to Israel, calls on citizens to leave country

The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry recommends citizens to assess the necessity of traveling to Israel and those who are there to leave in view of possible escalation in the region and [..]

Spain is interested in Latvia’s work on resilience building – ambassador

Spain is interested in Latvia’s knowledge of the Eastern European region and the country’s work in building resilience, the new Latvian ambassador to Spain, Janis Zlamets, told LETA. He believes [..]

Release of Wrongfully Detained Americans and Russian Political Prisoners

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and Alsu Kurmasheva are now on their way back to the United States from Russia. Through the extraordinary efforts of [..]

Vehicles with Belarusian license plates banned from entering Estonia

On July 1, the European Union ramped up sanctions imposed on Belarus to limit the ability of the Belarusian regime to participate in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and prevent the [..]

The EU and its allies must do more to curtail Russian influence in Europe

By journalist Inga Karlinska. EU-Russia tensions have been elevated since the latter’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and have gone downhill since Russia’s outright invasion of and war [..]

Lithuanian troops to leave for NATO mission in Iraq

Members of the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ Redeployable Communications and Information Systems Module are leaving for a NATO mission in Iraq on July 14. During the four-month mission, the troops will [..]

Estonia takes over presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States

From Monday until June 30, 2025, Estonia will preside over the work of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), focusing on increasing security and sustainability in the Baltic [..]

Estonia’s Kallas named to be EU’s next foreign policy chief

EU leaders late on Thursday sealed a deal to re-appoint Ursula von der Leyen for a second term in charge of the European Commission and Estonian premier Kaja Kallas to [..]

EU opens accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova

Statement by President von der Leyen on opening accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, via video message. It is very good news that today the European Union opens accession negotiations [..]

Expert predicts no major shift in war after US allows Ukraine to use its weapons to strike military targets anywhere in Russia

The US decision to allow the Ukrainian army to use US-supplied weapons to attack any military facilities on Russian territory is unlikely to turn the tide of the war in [..]

Meloni might sabotage Estonia’s Kaja Kallas’ bid for Brussels position

Incumbent Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ chances of becoming the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs have declined, according to recent news in European media, Postimees reports. It is [..]

Estonian PM highlights Zelenskyy’s peace plan as only viable option

At the Summit on Peace in Ukraine held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on Saturday and Sunday, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas emphasized that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan, centered on [..]

NATO Secretary General in Riga: Latvia leads by example

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with President Edgars Rinkēvičs in Riga on Tuesday (11 June 2024), praising Latvia for its many contributions as a NATO Ally over 20 years. He [..]

Russian border guard removes buoys marking fairway from Narva River

The Russian border guard on Thursday night removed from Narva River 24 buoys placed in Estonian waters to mark the fairway. Eerik Purgel, the head of the border and migration [..]

Russia puts Estonia’s former formin, police chief on wanted list

According to the Russian news agency TASS, Russia has put Estonia’s former police chief Elmar Vaher and former foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu on its wanted list, Postimees reports. Criminal cases [..]

Lithuania blocks Kaliningrad-bound train wagon with letter Z from entering

A train wagon with the letter Z painted on it had to be uncoupled from a Kaliningrad-bound train at the Kena railway border checkpoint in Lithuania, State Border Guard Service [..]

BNS asks Lithuanian presidential candidates about foreign policy

Continuing a series of articles in which presidential hopefuls respond to questions posed by BNS, in the second part, we present the candidates’ responses on Lithuania’s foreign policy. We asked [..]

German Chancellor confirms strong support for strengthening Baltic security

The security of NATO allies is also our security and “an attack on the Baltics would be an attack on all of us”, which must not be allowed, German Chancellor [..]

The European Parliament strengthens its cooperation with the Belarusian Democratic Forces

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and the Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya sign a Letter of Intent, in Valletta. During a ceremony at the European [..]

Thirty-five journalists imprisoned in Belarus “freed” symbolically in Vilnius

Journalists from different countries symbolically “freed” from prison 35 colleagues, currently imprisoned in Belarus, during a solidarity event in Vilnius on Friday. The #freedomforjournalists event was organized on the territory [..]

Latvia has no plans to stimulate the return of draft-age men to Ukraine – Silina

Latvia has not received any requests from Ukraine and our country currently has no concrete plans to stimulate the return of men of conscription age to Ukraine, Prime Minister Evika [..]

Estonian formin: Foreign agents law jeopardizing Georgia’s path to EU

At an informal meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that Georgia’s foreign agents law endangers the country’s path to the European Union. [..]

Swedish government formally tasks armed forces with preparing for presence in Latvia

The Swedish government has given the armed forces a formal task of planning and preparing for the Swedish contribution of a reduced mechanized battalion to NATO’s forward land forces in [..]

Lithuanian lawmakers allow up to 10,000 foreign troops to come for BALTOPS

Lithuanian lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a special resolution allowing up to 10,000 troops from other countries to take part in the international Exercise Baltic Operations 2024 (BALTOPS) to be held [..]

Spain plans to join Riga-based NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence

The Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday approved a memorandum of understanding on the Spanish Defense Ministry’s plan to join the Riga-based NATO Strategic Communication Centre of Excellence. The Spanish Defense [..]

Estonia continues efforts to free its citizen from ship seized in Hormuz Strait

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that Estonia is continuing its diplomatic efforts to secure the release of an Estonian citizen who was on board a ship seized in the Strait [..]

President supports Braze as foreign minister

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics supports the nomination of diplomat Baiba Braze for the post of foreign minister. Rinkevics told journalists on Wednesday after a meeting with Prime Minister Evika Silina [..]

Latvian officials condemn Iran’s attack on Israel

President Edgars Rinkevics and Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity), who is also acting as Foreign Minister, condemn the attack on Israel by Iran on Sunday night. Rinkevics stressed that [..]

Seven out of 10 people in Lithuania see Russia as threat to national security

Seven out of ten people in Lithuania believe that Russia poses a threat to national security, and almost a quarter disagree with this view, according to an opinion poll commissioned [..]

ISS says actions of Russian intelligence services have become more intense

Intelligence activities by the intelligence and security services of the Russian Federation, which have become increasingly aggressive of late, continue to be the main intelligence threat to Estonia, Estonia’s Internal [..]

NATO to invest EUR 160 million in development of military port in Liepaja

NATO has taken a decision to allocate more than EUR 160 million for the development of a military port in the area of Karosta Port in Liepaja, Defense Minister Andris [..]

New Vilnius campaign will invite Brits, Germans to break stereotypes

Vilnius is set to launch a new advertising campaign in the UK and Germany next week, worth around 0.5 million euros, and will invite people in the two countries to [..]

Russia will continue to maintain confrontational relations with the West – SAB

In the short and medium term, Vladimir Putin’s regime will continue to maintain a confrontational relationship with the West, including, if necessary, by threatening to escalate the conflict, including by [..]

Germany is ready to defend every inch of NATO territory – Scholz

Germany stands shoulder to shoulder with the Baltic states and is ready to defend every inch of NATO territory, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today after a meeting with Latvian [..]

US Congress passes financing bill including USD 228 mln in security aid for Baltics

The US Congress on Friday passed a government funding legislation, which also includes 228 million US dollars in security aid for the Baltic states. This year, the US has also [..]

Secretary General in Armenia: stability in the South Caucasus matters to NATO

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg concluded his tour of the South Caucasus on Tuesday (19 March 2024) in Yerevan, Armenia where he met with President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Prime Minister [..]

EU could agree that Russian presidential ‘elections’ in temporarily occupied Ukraine are not legitimate – Zatlers

The European Union (EU) could agree that the Russian presidential ”elections” in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are not legitimate, former President Valdis Zatlers told LETA. In his opinion, [..]