NATO representatives meeting on Thursday will consider boosting the strength of the defence alliance’s eastern flank even further given Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. While NATO has already bumped up troop numbers, which now number 40,000 on its eastern border, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia could see
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Slovakia providing air defence systems to Ukraine is a no-go, according to an article on Euractiv. This week Bratislava said it was considering sending Soviet-era S-300 missile systems if it received Western replacements from its NATO allies. Any arms supply
Following Russia’s attack on Ukraine on Thursday morning, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all invoked the NATO alliance’s Article 4, which obliges all 30 NATO members to hold a consultation when “the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened”.
Explaining the rationale
Russian forces did not invade Ukraine today, confounding earlier US intelligence statements this was likely to happen on Wednesday. The Kremlin mocked Western media who had declared today the “invasion date”, France 24 reported.
Nevertheless US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed scepticism regarding the Russian Defence Ministry claim that
The Latvian Defence Ministry has revealed that 400 US troops, 100 units of military vehicles and 22 US Apache helicopters will arrive to the Baltic country by Wednesday to take part in an international military drill. Large numbers of NATO troops will also arrive into the Central and Eastern Europe
French Trade Minister Franck Riester said the EU will resolutely back Lithuania in its escalating trade war with China, on Sunday, Euractiv reported.
Riester underlined that the small Baltic nation was “a victim of coercion from Beijing” after meeting his opposites numbers in Marseille. As the current holder of the
NATO has sent troops to Lithuania, which the country’s head of state says should be permanently stationed in the Baltic country. A rotating contingent of soldiers “would be the best boost to security and deterrence that NATO could provide – not only to Lithuania, but to the whole region”, President
Estonia has become the digital model for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) due to a digitalisation policy that has seen it close in on the wealth and GDP of EU countries further west. The keystones of Estonia’s ‘CEE dream’ are increasingly recognised as public service digitalization and digital integration.
Price rises in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries were mostly above the Eurozone average of 4.9% in November, as inflation surged at the highest rate for 25 years, according to the latest data of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Lithuania had CEE’s highest year-on-year
Taiwan will extend a USD 1 billion credit line to Lithuania as a gesture of solidarity with the Baltic country, and to help to offset the trade embargo that China has imposed on it. The fund aims to develop Lithuania’s biotech, finance, semiconductor and satellite industries.
“We recognise and
Business services and products including fintech are the key field for startups in the Baltics. Fighting fraud, data visualizations and effective work tools.
Startups offering business services from the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, (combined population circa 6.2 million) now number the thousands. As well as fintech,
In our second deep dive into the Baltic tech business scene, CET looks at startups that take physical health and psychological well-being equally seriously, especially in the wake of the global pandemic outbreak in 2020.
Finding a niche
Modern health startups are increasingly tailor-made for different audiences and groups. While
In our first deep dive into the innovative Baltic startup scene, we look at companies with new approaches to recycling, reforestation, oil disposal and even nuclear energy .
Fighting deforestation with satellites
Estonia’s Single.Earth was founded two years ago based on a belief that it is possible to save
This week The Central European Times investigates the startup scenes of the three innovative but diminutive Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, whose small size makes companies open and internationally oriented from day one. Read our exclusive reports on environmental startups in the Baltics here, healthtech startups here and cutting-edge
China is allegedly pressuring Continental AG to stop using components made at the German car parts manufacturer’s subsidiary in Lithuania in retaliation for the Baltic country allowing Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital Vilnius, Reuters reports.
Continental AG, one of the world’s largest car