Baltic Prime Ministers convene in Tallinn with Rail Baltica at the centre of the agenda
Earlier today in Tallinn, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa and Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė convened for high-level discussions on regional cooperation, infrastructure and security. The meeting opened at the Rail Baltica Ülemiste terminal, where the three heads of government reviewed construction progress and debated on the strategic priorities of Rail Baltica.
Rail Baltica is the largest cross-border infrastructure project in the Baltic region and one of the most consequential investments Europe is making on its eastern flank. It integrates Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the European standard-gauge network, unlocks modern passenger and freight connectivity across the region, and serves a dual purpose of economic competitiveness and collective security, including military mobility in support of NATO. The shared commitment of the three governments remains firm: deliver the mainline and connect the region to Europe by 2030.
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Originally published on 17 Apr
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The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group increased financing for Latvia to a record €381 million in 2025 to speed up the green transition, strengthen infrastructure and promote loans for households and businesses. The EIB Group last year also opened its first office in Riga to anchor a closer partnership with authorities, companies and financial intermediaries in the country.
“2025 was a significant year for the EIB Group in Latvia,” said EIB Vice-President Karl Nehammer. “With record financing and our new office in Riga, we are now closer to our partners than ever before – supporting energy security, modern infrastructure and better access to finance for people and businesses across the country.”
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Originally published on 30 Jan
Across Copenhagen, Malmö, and Visby, the cruise segment continues to show resilience and strong growth potential. The trends for 2026 reflect a clear focus on extended seasons, increased turn‑around calls, shore power and new ship deployments — reinforcing the region’s strategic importance in the European cruise market.
The 2025 cruise season in Copenhagen performed as expected, with 316 calls and almost 866,500 passengers. Additional calls were recorded due to ship repositioning from other regions, underlining Copenhagen’s role as a key Northern European hub.
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Originally published on 29 Jan
Riga/Tallinn. At the beginning of 2026, the Latvian airline airBaltic marks 30 years of operations on the route between its home base, Riga and its base in Tallinn. The first airBaltic flight from the Latvian capital to the Estonian capital took place on January 30, 1996, thus marking an important milestone in the airline’s early network development and strengthening air connectivity within the Baltics and between Estonia and the wider region.
Mantas Vrubliauskas, Vice President Network Management at airBaltic: “For three decades, our operations between the two capitals have contributed to stronger connectivity for Estonia, supporting both business and leisure travel. Over the years, airBaltic has steadily grown its presence in Tallinn, and today we offer a strong and competitive network of direct routes from the city. As the leading airline in the Baltic region, we remain committed to providing reliable connectivity for our passengers while continuing to explore new opportunities to further strengthen links across the Baltics. We also extend sincere thanks to our long-standing partners, RIX Riga Airport and Tallinn Airport, for their continued cooperation and support in airBaltic’s development.”
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Originally published on 30 Jan
Riga and Vilnius. Today, January 29, 2026, Latvian airline airBaltic celebrates the 30th anniversary of its route between Riga, Latvia, and Vilnius, Lithuania. This marked the airline’s first nonstop service linking the two Baltic capitals, offering customers fast, seamless, and reliable connectivity between Latvia and Lithuania, while also providing passengers from Lithuania with access to a wide range of destinations across airBaltic’s route network in Europe and beyond via RIX Riga Airport.
Mantas Vrubliauskas, VP Network Management at airBaltic: “Over the past three decades, our flights between the two largest cities in the Baltics have provided customers with convenient and reliable travel options for both business and leisure. Vilnius is also one of our home cities and this year we will expand our presence there by launching new direct destinations and increasing frequencies on various existing routes therefore providing our customers with more travel options. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our long-term partners, RIX Riga Airport and Lithuanian Airports, for their continued cooperation and support of airBaltic’s growth.”
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Originally published on 29 Jan
X Infotech, a Latvian software provider, has won a procurement for creating a technical solution for collecting e-residents’ biometric data via mobile devices, the Estonian Ministry of the Interior’s Information Technology and Development Centre (SMIT) has announced. The application to be developed will enable applicants for e-Residency, starting in 2027, to verify their identity securely via a smartphone application.
Submitting biometric data through a mobile app will make the e-Residency application process more convenient and faster, and is a prerequisite for eventually replacing the current physical card–based e-resident digital identity entirely with a mobile solution. The solution being developed must also meet the European Union’s eIDAS regulation’s stringent security requirements, ensuring that the e-resident digital ID remains usable for authentication and for providing electronic signatures equivalent to handwritten signatures.
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Originally published on 29 Jan
The John Nurminen Foundation, a well-known Finnish environmental organization, has set itself the strategic goal of reducing human-induced stress on the Baltic Sea. Tallink is supporting the organization’s activities with a donation of €20,000 that derives from the sale of Tallink Silja Line’s branded chocolate bars.
“Tallink Grupp connects the shores and people of the Baltic Sea, and for us this also means a natural obligation to maintain and improve the condition of our home sea. In addition to our cooperation with the John Nurminen Foundation, we are investing extensively in energy efficiency and environmental friendliness – our shuttle vessels already use a significant amount of renewable fuel, liquefied biomethane, and the complete transition is expected to take place this year. Tallink Grupp is constantly striving to improve the energy efficiency of our fleet, which reduces Tallink’s and, consequently, our customers’ environmental footprint. We are doing our best and doing it systematically,” confirmes Paavo Nõgene, CEO of Tallink Grupp.
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Originally published on 29 Jan
The final quarter of 2025 ended with strong momentum in clean energy, advanced technology, and sustainable industries, reinforcing Finland’s position as a global innovation leader. Significant investments, policy reforms, and international collaborations during this period are expected to shape the country’s competitiveness and growth path in the coming decade.
A new National Energy and Climate Strategy was introduced, serving as a key element of the country’s goal to become a leader in sustainable power. “The goal is to transform Finland into a clean energy leader in Europe,” said Sari Multala, Minister of Climate and the Environment.
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Originally published on 27 Jan
ORLEN Neptun begins the preparation process of a service port for the Baltic West offshore wind farm
ORLEN Neptun has entered into a reservation agreement with the Kołobrzeg Sea Port Authority. The agreement includes the reservation of land in the Kołobrzeg Sea Port, which will enable the preparation of a service port for the operation of another ORLEN Group offshore wind farm developed within the phase II of offshore wind energy development – Baltic West.
Strengthening existing cooperation through the signed reservation agreement will enable analysis and development of the preliminary project documentation. This will allow to use the solutions best suited to the implementation of the offshore wind project – Baltic West. Gaining experiences such as this one can help unlock the port’s infrastructure potential for the implementation of future offshore wind projects in this part of the Baltic Sea.
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Originally published on 22 Jan
The European Commission has allocated €113 million in funding from Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for critical Synchronisation infrastructure protection implemented by the transmission system operators of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland. The implementation of wider range of projects aimed at ensuring energy security against potential cyber and physical threats began on February 9 last year, following the successful synchronization of the Baltic States with the Continental European electricity network.
“Having successfully completed the synchronization project, the Baltic States and Poland continue to invest in energy independence and security. We are grateful to the European Commission for supporting our ambition to make the Baltic Sea region a model for strengthening the security and resilience of critical energy infrastructure across Europe. This funding is the result of our consistent efforts and sets a new precedent, as until now the European Union had no dedicated financing for the protection of critical energy infrastructure. By consistently applying the lessons learned from Ukrainian energy specialists, we are expanding the scope of protection for our critical energy infrastructure projects. We plan to apply for further funding for resilience projects and are actively working to ensure that a long-term EU-level instrument for financing critical energy infrastructure protection is established,” – said Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania.
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Originally published on 28 Jan
Estonia is no stranger to being the first in official digital adoption — already succeeding in making all governmental services online, using blockchain and e-voting. Now it’s time to take this approach into the AI era. The Estonian government unveiled Eesti.ai on Tuesday, an ambitious national program that aims to systematically implement artificial intelligence across all sectors, with the goal of doubling the value of Estonian work by 2035.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal launched the initiative alongside Bolt founder Markus Villig, who will chair the international advisory council driving the program. The council brings together Estonian tech leaders, including IT visionary Linnar Viik and entrepreneurs Sten Tamkivi (Skaala), Kaspar Korjus (Pactum), and Taavi Madiberk (Skeleton), working alongside international experts and sector representatives.
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Originally published on 27 Jan