Baltic Roundup | July 2024
Dear Readers,
At the start of July, Baltic and Nordic leaders were at the NATO Summit in Washington, DC, sharing their thoughts on defense with NPR's Mary Louise Kelly in an Atlantic Council discussion. Now a look back at the rest of the month.
Politics & Defense
Following the NATO summit in Washington, DC, Kaja Kallas traded her post as Estonia's prime minister to become the EU's top diplomat. Kristen Michal, the former environment minister, succeeds Kallas in the PM's post, continuing the coalition led by his predecessor.
Two delegations led by Republican members of Congress visited the Baltic states in July to discuss defense, support for Ukraine and Israel, and economic ties.
Lithuania took a step forward in withdrawing from the convention on cluster munitions. (Estonia, Latvia, and the US, among other allies, are not signatories.) Vilnius is proposing a defense plan for the capital city, including bomb shelters, evacuation routes, and amateur drone piloting. And, Raimundas Vaikšnoras became Lithuania’s new chief of defense.
One MEP from Lithuania's People and Justice Union joined Europe of Sovereign Nations, the newly formed far-right group in the European Parliament led by Germany's Alternative for Germany and Poland's Confederation, while an MEP from Latvia joined a far-right grouping — Patriots for Europe that largely replaces the far-right Identity and Democracy group — led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz and Marine Le Pen's National Rally. Estonia's far-right MEP formerly in the ID group joined soft Euroskeptic grouping European Conservatives and Reformists instead.
Latvia's civil partnership law came into force on July 1, legalizing same-sex unions. However, efforts to pass same-sex partnership legislation have stalled in Lithuania. Next up on Baltic Ways: An interview with Aro Velmet on the progression of LGBT rights in the region over the last decades.
Economy & Transportation
In Estonia, one of incoming PM Kristen Michal's first moves was to unveil efforts at improving the country's finances by increasing income, VAT, and corporate taxes and implementing the “biggest wave of budget cuts since the global financial crisis.” The efforts are also part of a move to boost defense initiatives military officials say are needed to deter Russian aggression.
Morten Hansen of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga gives an overview of inflation over the last three years.
The European Commission will give another €1.2 billion to the embattled Rail Baltica project. The railway must remain a strategic priority, argues Justina Budginaite-Froehly in CEPA.
Climate & Energy
One woman in Lithuania was killed in a powerful storm that hit the region in late July. Damage was extensive with major flooding, downed trees, and electricity lost, while severe thunderstorms also disrupted trains and airplanes. According to data from the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, July 28-29 had the heaviest rainfall ever recorded. Earlier in the month, a tornado hit Šiauliai District in Lithuania.
Electricity transmission systems operators in the Baltic countries notified Russia and Belarus about the non-extension of the BRELL contract in a long-anticipated move. The countries will decouple from the circular electricity network controlled from Moscow in February 2025 and will join the continental European grid. Consumers should expect an increase in costs.
Justice & Oversight
The European Court of Human Rights found that education reforms in Latvia aimed at increasing the use of Latvian in schools are not discriminatory against Russian speakers. However, the court ruled against the state in Hanovs v. Latvia, awarding Riga Stradiņa University professor, Deniss Hanovs, 10,000 euros after he suffered a hate crime that was dismissed by Latvian police.
Supported by Amnesty International, 24 migrants filed a class-action lawsuit against Lithuania over unlawful detention in 2021-2022. The state began automatic detentions following an emergency declaration related to increased migration from the Belarusian border. Also, Tomas Kelpša, a psychologist working at a migrant center was sentenced to 18 months in prison over sexually abusing asylum-seekers and threatening victims with deportation.
The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) did not find evidence of “envelope” wages or misuse of SOAAR's election system by Latvia's New Unity Party, though they did apply fines for some minor violations. KNAB also ordered the National Alliance party to repay more than 200,000 for violating rules on the use of state funding and will suspend financing to the party for one year. NA has appealed the decision.
Aitäh, paldies and ačiū,
Indra Ekmanis
Baltic Bulletin Editor
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