The Latvian parliament or Saeima on April 5 passed a law gradually reinstating military conscription in the Baltic republic 16 years after abandoning obligatory service in favor of professional volunteer armed forces in 2007. The Law on the State Defense Service, adopted by a vote of 68 to 11 in…

A combination of insensitive gaffes on one side and skepticism and anger by the Latvian authorities at all things Russian after the invasion of Ukraine has led to the termination of Europe-wide broadcast rights for the exiled Russian opposition broadcaster TV Rain. The next step in the confrontation that started…

Baltics lagging on LGBT rights as Pride Month starts across Europe While many countries in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere in the world have provided legal registration of same-sex relationships and sometimes even marriage, the Baltic countries, except for Estonia’s partnership law, still lag behind even as many European…

A defense minister doubts extra funding for public service TV after a controversial interview, a parliament enables a broadcast watchdog to block “undesirable” internet sites to all users, a law is passed to revoke citizenship for expressing support for Russia in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and journalists are accused…

A civilized Europe must prepare for decades, if not a century ‘without Russia’. Not literally, as it would be if, with hugely devastating global side effects, Moscow triggered an exchange of nuclear strikes and left a “glass desert” — melted sand — instead of Moscow. This, hopefully, will not happen. …

The government of Lithuania on April 1 proposed spending EUR 2.26 billion to reduce the impact of higher energy prices and resulting inflation as well as to increase the Baltic country’s energy independence and shift to energy saving and renewable energy sources. The total spending amounts to around 4.6 percent…

Will there be a Ukraine when the war launched by Russia ends? Right now, it looks like Ukraine is surviving and Russia is taking an unexpectedly bloody beating. Thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed, hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles destroyed and even worse for Russian morale — abandoned…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said March 8 that Russia’s call for a return to “peaceful coexistence” with the United States is “making a mockery of that word through its aggression on Ukraine.” Speaking in the Estonian capital Tallinn, Blinken said “if Russia wants to engage in peaceful co-existence…

All three Baltic countries on February 24 asked NATO for Article 4 consultations following Russia’s early morning attack on Ukraine, official sources and local media reported. In an official statement, the Estonian government said it had decided to trigger NATO consultations under Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty “together…