The Government approves the special plan for the Kaunas–Vilnius section of Rail Baltica
The Government has approved the special plan for the Kaunas–Vilnius section of the Rail Baltica project. The Government’s decision also provides for the commencement of land acquisition procedures for public needs in the Kaunas and Jonava districts.
The extension of the European standard‑gauge railway to Vilnius is planned to follow the completion of the main Rail Baltica line. In 2024, the three Baltic States and the European Commission agreed to prioritize the construction of the main Rail Baltica line connecting Poland with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. It is envisaged that the necessary funding for the Kaunas–Vilnius connection will be secured from the forthcoming EU financial period.
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Originally published on 22 Apr
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From December 2027, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) will be fully applicable, forcing manufacturers of connected products to guarantee cybersecurity throughout the entire lifecycle or lose access to the EU market. For German SMEs, this means urgent upgrades to existing products without halting production. Estonian software engineering company Proekspert specialises in exactly this task—bringing legacy products up to CRA standards without redesigning hardware.
“For many manufacturers, the Cyber Resilience Act is not a future problem. It is already embedded in products currently on the market. Industrial drives and configuration tools are a good example: almost every product with digital elements is now a potential point of attack. Security can no longer be treated as an add-on,” says Marco Spielmann, CEO of Proekspert.
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Originally published on 31 Mar
Dependence on imported raw materials has made Europe vulnerable, exposed to supply chain disruptions and geopolitical uncertainty. Smart regulation is needed to create a level playing field for circular materials, products and business models, and to encourage innovation and reduce environmental pressures.
The European Union is currently formulating the Circular Economy Act (CEA) as a decisive step towards a competitive and more sustainable Europe. This presents a critical opportunity to move Europe’s circular economy from ambition to delivery.
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Originally published on 31 Mar
Members of the Executive Board of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have expressed their dismay to learn that the proposed amendments to the Law on Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) are currently scheduled to be discussed by the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) after Easter without any due consideration being given to recommendations from the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, nor to the critical observations expressed by the Seimas’ own legal experts and both the national and international journalist communities
The Executive Board – whose members are the leaders of 8 public service media organizations throughout Europe – stressed again on behalf of the EBU and their own organizations that the current draft law would only further increase the vulnerability of LRT to political pressure and thus severely undermine LRT’s public service remit and vital role in providing the Lithuanian public with independent, reliable and pluralistic information.
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The Airbus ‘Bird of Prey’ interceptor drone successfully completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In a realistic mission scenario, it autonomously searched, detected and classified a medium-sized one-way attack (kamikaze) drone. After successful identification, the Bird of Prey interceptor engaged the target with a Mark I air-to-air missile developed by defence tech start-up partner Frankenburg Technologies.
“Against the current geopolitical and military backdrop, defending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority that urgently needs to be tackled,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO Airbus Defence and Space. “With our Bird of Prey and Frankenburg’s affordable Mark I missiles, we are providing armed forces with an effective, cost-efficient interceptor, filling a crucial capability gap in today’s asymmetric conflict theatres. The integration of Bird of Prey into Airbus’ air defence battle management suite IBMS acts as a force multiplier.”
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Originally published on 30 Mar
A delegation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, along with other distinguished guests, visited Hycamite Friday for a tour of its Customer Sample Facility (Decarbonization Plant). The group explored the company’s technology and capabilities, including its battery‑grade graphite production capabilities.
CEO Laura Rahikka and Chairman of the Board Matti Malkamäki hosted the visitors. Following the tour, Malkamäki provided an in-depth briefing on Hycamite’s methane-splitting technology, its role in electrification, and our capacity to convert carbon into battery-grade graphite. Hycamite’s industrial-scale demonstration plant capacity produces 2 kt hydrogen annually in addition to high-value, solid carbon products.
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The Latvian airline airBaltic announces the start of the summer season 2026, running until late October 2026, by introducing nine new routes, relaunching several previously operated services, and increasing frequencies on nearly 30 existing routes from its bases across all three Baltic States and Finland.
Since 29 and 30 March, airBaltic has launched new connections between Riga (Latvia) and Kaunas (Lithuania), Oulu (Finland), and Warsaw (Poland), as well as relaunched services between Riga and Belgrade (Serbia). Additionally, newly launched destinations from Tallinn (Estonia) include Hamburg (Germany) and Vienna (Austria), alongside the relaunch of flights to Oslo (Norway).
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The smallest companies in the Baltics will be eligible for up to €15 million in loans as a result of an initiative that alternative financing provider Capitalia is undertaking with support from the European Investment Fund (EIF). Capitalia will use an EIF guarantee to offer crowdfunded loans to microenterprises in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania over three years.
Microenterprises, which have fewer than ten employees and annual turnover or total assets below €2 million, often struggle to secure funding from traditional lenders because of limited collateral or credit history.
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Originally published on 30 Mar
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending the City of Stockholm 5 billion Swedish kronor (around €470 million euro) to finance the city’s largest environmental investment in decades. The project involves closing the Bromma treatment plant and routing all the city’s wastewater to a significantly expanded and modernised treatment plant at Henriksdal.
The key element of the investment is a new wastewater collection tunnel that will transport sewage from Bromma to Henriksdal. The plant there will be expanded using advanced membrane technology, making it possible to treat more water without increasing the floor area and with significantly better results.
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Originally published on 26 Mar
The defence sector pre-accelerator Defence Business Lab is beginning its second year of operation and is inviting companies and teams to apply with technological solutions that support Estonia’s defence capabilities. The programme helps take defence technologies from idea and prototype stage through to testing and international growth opportunities.
The pre-accelerator is aimed at companies developing technologies applicable in the defence sector that need support in understanding the specific characteristics of the defence market, developing and positioning their solution, and preparing for the next stages of growth, including applying to international programmes.
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Originally published on 27 Mar
From March 17 to 19, a Consortium meeting of the European Union co-funded project H2Deri@BSP took place in Luleå, Sweden. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority was represented by Kaspars Liepiņš, developer of the renewable energy cluster.
During the meeting, project partners familiarised themselves with the Port of Luleå, one of the largest cargo ports in Sweden and an important industrial centre in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. They discussed project activities and latest updates and presented interim results of their work tasks. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority presented a techno-economic and commercial model designed to assess the development potential of solar, wind, and hybrid power plants, as well as green hydrogen and its derivative production facilities.
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Originally published on 26 Mar