About: Baltic countries
In Baltics, Macron defends French dialogue with Russia
French President Emmanuel Macron insisted on Monday (28 September) that Europe should cooperate with Russia to build peace in Europe, despite calls among European Union peers to review his stance towards Moscow after the poisoning of a Russian opposition leader.
Macron: ‘It is clear Lukashenko has to go’
French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday (27 September) that Belarus's leader Alexander Lukashenko must step down, after the EU refused to recognise him as the legitimate president of the ex-Soviet country.
Baltic states ban Lukashenko amid crackdown on opposition
The Baltic states on Monday (31 August) banned embattled Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as he cracked down further on the opposition movement following another huge rally at the weekend.
Tens of thousands in Lithuania form human chain for Belarus
Tens of thousands of Lithuanians linked arms on Sunday (23 August) in solidarity with the people of neighbouring Belarus who have been holding mass protests against authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko since a disputed presidential election two weeks ago.
Central Europe and Baltic states GDP will fall by 4.3% in 2020, ERBD report says
The economies of Central Europe and the Baltic states are seen contracting by 4.3% on average in 2020, according to a report by the European Bank for Reconstructing and Development (ERBD) published on Wednesday (13 May). The report also showed that EU members in south-eastern Europe are expected to face a 4.8% GDP decline in 2020.
MEPs call for convergence to avoid ‘Orwellian’ fate for farmers
As long as there are 'equal' and 'more equal' farmers within the EU, its Eastern member states will be giving up farming and abandoning rural areas, a group of 65 EU lawmakers warned in a letter addressed to the presidents of the bloc's top institutions.
Russia not target in US army’s massive Europe deployment: NATO
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg insisted Monday (3 February) that a massive transfer of US and allied troops to Eastern Europe as part of a military exercise was not aimed at Russia.
Baltic farmers in Brussels to restore CAP’s ‘historical anomaly’
Farmers from the Baltic countries will gather on 13 December in Brussels to call for a fairer distribution of payments in the framework of the post-2020 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
US pushes NATO to ready more forces to deter Russian threat
The United States is pressing its European allies to get more NATO battalions, ships and planes ready for combat, officials say, in a fresh move to shore up NATO’s deterrence against any Russian attack.
Baltic states to ask Trump for greater protection from Russia
Baltic state leaders will ask the United States to send more troops and bolster air defences on NATO’s eastern flank to deter Russia when they meet President Donald Trump on Tuesday (3 April), officials said. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Estonian...
Baltic leaders back bigger EU budget after Brexit
The leaders of three Baltic states yesterday (15 February) backed a proposal for EU members to pay more into the bloc's budget after 2020 to fill a Brexit void.
Spain benefitted most from Juncker Plan in 2016
Spain is one of the main beneficiaries of the Juncker Plan, according to European Investment Bank Vice-President Román Escolano, after a year in which the EU bank focused on financing SMEs. Euractiv Spain reports.
Lithuania to build Kaliningrad border fence with EU money
Lithuania said today (16 January) it plans to use EU funds to build a fence on the border with Russia’s highly militarised Kaliningrad exclave to boost security and prevent smuggling. Baltic states have repeatedly voiced their concern at the Russian...
Former Eastern EU leaders warn Trump on Russia
Seventeen leaders of EU member states, among which only Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev is still in office, wrote to President-elect Donald Trump, asking him not to improve relations with Russia.
Anniversary highlights non-eurozone aversion to EU currency
The euro, used by nearly 340 million people each day in 19 countries, marked its 15th birthday on 1 January without celebration. A Eurobarometer report published in December shows little enthusiasm for the currency in non-eurozone countries.
Commission accused over Baltic cod fishing limits
Conservationists have blamed the European Commission for being “picky” regarding the scientific advice it used to propose fishing limits in the Baltic Sea.
Stoltenberg says no ‘meeting of minds’ at NATO-Russia Council
NATO and Russia failed to overcome deep differences over Ukraine yesterday (13 July) in their first talks since the alliance approved a troop boost in Eastern Europe, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said.
Commission: Russian propaganda has deeply penetrated EU countries
A European Commission official has said that Russian propaganda was now powerful in all EU member states – but in some of them Moscow barely needed to make the effort, as local politicians were delivering its messages.
Baltic farmers: Russian embargo creates need for new export markets
Hit hard by the Russian food embargo, farmers from the Baltic countries and Finland have urged EU politicians to be more effective in finding new markets, as well as continue dialogue with Moscow to overcome the food ban deadlock.
‘Largest investment ever’ to support Brenner rail tunnel
Within ten years, the Brenner Base project, the longest railway tunnel in the world, is expected to be completed and operational. The EU has announced that it will contribute €1.2 billion to its construction. EURACTIV Germany reports.
East Europeans wary of Russia diplomatic thaw after Paris attacks
With signs growing of a thaw between Moscow and Western capitals after the Paris attacks, some of Russia's neighbours fear that European resolve to keep up economic sanctions and military pressure over the Ukraine crisis may be waning.
Brussels to publish plans for closer EU energy union
Britain's plans for closer power and gas links with continental Europe would get a boost under a new list of priority projects to be published next week, as part of a drive for a single European Union market for energy supplies.
Eurozone’s poorer East takes hard line on Greece
The eurozone's poorer former communist nations, having themselves endured painful reforms and austerity programmes, are taking a hard line on Greece after its people voted to reject creditors' bailout terms.