Michal: Estonia aims to become a world leader in the use of artificial intelligence
Stenbock House, 8 April – At a meeting of the Eesti.ai council, 15 high-impact projects were approved, aimed at accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence in Estonia and strengthening the competitiveness of the country. According to Prime Minister Kristen Michal, the aim is to make Estonia one of the world’s leading implementers of artificial intelligence.
“Doctors, teachers, accountants, human resources specialists, musicians, translators, and many others will have more time to devote to meaningful work, learning, and interacting with people when they use artificial intelligence. Less time is spent searching for information, on paperwork, and on routine tasks. This also means more personal and family time,” said Michal.
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Originally published on 16 Apr
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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
Checkout.com, a leading global digital payments provider, has announced the establishment of a technology centre in Vilnius. The expansion follows the acquisition of Blue EMI, a Lithuanian electronic money institution, and will see Checkout.com build capabilities in compliance and technology, to serve its operations.
Since its establishment in 2012, Checkout.com has evolved from a fast-growing fintech into a payments infrastructure provider serving some of the world’s largest enterprises, with an expanding geographic presence and global operations. The company enables businesses to accept, process, and optimise digital payments worldwide, with services spanning online card acquiring, multi-currency processing, issuing, fraud detection, and payment orchestration.
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Originally published on 27 Jan
At the North Sea Summit on January 26, Denmark and Germany took the final steps toward realizing the Bornholm Energy Island. At Baltic Energy Island, we are grateful and more than ready to move forward.
Denmark and Germany have agreed to share the costs of the support needed for offshore wind. The cost distribution reflects a fair balance between the benefits of the project and the expected allocation of green power.
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Originally published on 27 Jan
By signing a contract governing the legally compliant cooperation for the construction and operation of the two offshore platforms required for the Gennaker offshore wind farm, transmission system operator 50Hertz and wind farm developer Skyborn Renewables (Skyborn) have cleared the way for commissioning the entire system by mid‑2028. The agreement resolves legal and regulatory uncertainties and sets a pioneering precedent for grid connection of an offshore wind farm located in territorial waters.
The Gennaker offshore wind farm, comprising 63 turbines of the 15‑MW class, will be built in German territorial waters (within the so‑called 12-nautical-mile zone) off the coast of the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula. The project received full approval from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in December last year. Installation of the wind turbines is scheduled to begin in late summer 2027. The cooperation agreement between 50Hertz and Skyborn now concluded represents an essential addition and prerequisite for the planned commissioning of the grid connection system in July 2028.
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Originally published on 27 Jan