Estonia to chair the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation format as of 1 January 2026
As of tomorrow, 1 January 2026, Estonia will assume the coordinating role as chair of the Nordic-Baltic (NB8) cooperation format, with the aim of strengthening regional cooperation, increasing the international visibility of NB8, and deepening the region’s strategic integration.
According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna, NB8 has developed into the most important platform for political coordination in the region. “NB8 must be firmly established as a cross-regional centre of political cooperation through which we pursue our shared objectives,” Tsahkna stressed. During the 2026 coordinating period, Estonia intends to use the NB8 format as its primary international political coordination tool at the level of leaders, ministers, senior officials and diplomats.
Another key objective is to strengthen the global image of NB8 as a group of highly like-minded countries with a strong and unified identity. “Together, the NB8 countries are significantly larger, more visible and more influential than when we act individually. We want to be seen as a unified and strong region that, despite the relatively small size of its countries, is one of the most important economic and political partners in the Euro-Atlantic space,” said the Foreign Minister. In 2026, Estonia plans to raise awareness of the nature of NB8 and to highlight the region’s role in the global economy and international politics.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 31 Dec
Announcements are published as a service to readers. The sender is responsible for all content. Announcements for publication can be submitted to announcements@thehanseatic.com.
We are deeply saddened by the news of the tragic train accident in southern Spain, which has claimed many lives and left many others injured.
Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and loved ones, and with everyone affected by this tragedy. We extend our sympathy to our colleagues in the Spanish railway sector and to the emergency services who responded at the scene.
Rail Baltica stands in solidarity with the people of Spain at this difficult time.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 19 Jan
In 2025, with the involvement of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA), the implementation of 31 investment projects was launched. The total value of these projects reached €1.01 billion, and 1,350 new jobs will be created. The largest projects last year were related to bioeconomy, smart energy, high-value-added manufacturing, ICT, and other sectors.
Minister for Economics Viktors Valainis: “Latvia aims to be among the most attractive investment destinations in the region, and LIAA’s results in 2025 confirm this—the Agency has attracted the highest investment volume in a single year in Latvia’s history. It is particularly significant that data from the Bank of Latvia show that in the first three quarters of 2025, the total volume of foreign investment increased by €700 million. This means Latvia can and does compete. Our task is to continue improving the business environment, removing obstacles, and ensuring investors have a clear, fast path from concept to implementation.”
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 15 Jan
Helsinki-based product growth automation platform Skene announces it has closed a €800,000 pre-seed round led by Superhero Capital and with participation from NVIDIA executives. With its first agent already live, Skene CEO Teemu Kinos, Co-Founder of GetJenny, aims to use the funds to cross €1M ARR and expand their offering to support growth across the full user journey by spring 2026.
The rapid acceleration of software development via AI has led to a $113 billion problem: the gap between building a product and achieving commercial success. With 42% of startups missing the market entirely and up to 53% of SaaS applications going unused or underutilised, this execution gap translates into over $113 billion in annual wasted venture investment in viable products that fail to drive essential growth outcomes such as activation, feature adoption, and retention.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 15 Jan
To ensure operational reliability and sufficient capacity, ESL Shipping has acquired a geared ice-class 1A second-hand vessel. This strategic acquisition follows the sale of Kallio and bridges the gap in capacity until the first Green Handy vessels join the fleet in about two years.
The vessel, which has a deadweight of 16,600 tons, was handed over on 12 January in Tallinn, Estonia. The vessel was renamed Nordis and sails under the Finnish flag.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 15 Jan
British aerospace and defence firm Babcock and Estonian defence company Frankenburg Technologies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore the creation of a new and affordable air‑defence solution, prompted by the growing threat posed by one‑way attack drones.
As part of the MoU, Babcock will develop a cost-effective, containerised platform for launching Frankenburg’s new low-cost missiles, which it is manufacturing at pace, specifically to defend against one-way attack drones.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 15 Jan
The Artificial Intelligence Association of Latvia (MILA) has joined the Standardization Technical Committee LVS/STK 59 “Artificial Intelligence,” strengthening professional industry representation in the development and implementation of AI standards in Latvia. MILA is represented on the committee by its co-founder and board member, Gatis Romanovskis.
The Standardization Technical Committee LVS/STK 59 was established in November 2025 to ensure Latvia’s regular and active participation in the development of European and international standards in the field of artificial intelligence. The committee’s scope covers AI terminology, fundamental principles, systems, conformity assessment, as well as the management of ethical and societal aspects, promoting the adoption and practical implementation of these standards in Latvia.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 14 Jan
The Finnish Hydrogen Cluster has today published a hydrogen economy roadmap, which provides the guidelines and measures to elevate Finland into Europe’s most competitive hydrogen economy by 2035.
The measures presented in the hydrogen economy roadmap focus on areas such as initiatives to boost the hydrogen market, the increased availability of clean energy and biogenic carbon dioxide, project financing, and safety. Industry, the government, European Union institutions all need to do their part to enable investments in the hydrogen ecosystem.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 14 Jan
Ellex in Estonia advised SmartCap Green Fund on its investment into Taaleri SolarWind III, a renewable energy infrastructure fund managed by Taaleri Energia.
SmartCap committed €25 million to accelerate the development and operation of onshore wind, solar and battery energy storage assets across the Baltics, Nordics, Poland and select markets in Europe and the U.S.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 14 Jan
On 22 January 2026, the Rail Baltica Forum on European Connectivity, Security, and Cooperation will take place in Madrid, Spain, continuing the series of high-level Rail Baltica seminars launched last year. The forum marks the first Rail Baltica high-level event of 2026 and highlights Spain’s important role in advancing Europe’s cross-border transport connectivity.
Organised by Rail Baltica together with ICEX Spain Trade and Investment, MAFEX, and the Embassies of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in Spain, the forum will convene senior policymakers, representatives of European institutions, members of the diplomatic and defence communities, rail infrastructure managers, operators, and industry leaders.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 14 Jan
AI offers new opportunities that free up social and health care professionals’ time from administrative and repetitive tasks for more important duties, such as seeing people face-to-face. AI has been helping to automate patient data entry and interpret meetings. Moreover, AI can be used to assist in guiding clients to the right services.
In 2024, Sitra funded several AI pilots implemented in cooperation between wellbeing services counties and businesses. The pilots produced good results: for instance, AI-assisted logging of patient data helped to speed up professionals’ work and freed time for interaction with the patient.
Read full announcement (external link)
Originally published on 13 Jan