Latvia

The EU is getting a defence commissioner for the first time and he warns war with Russia is just years away, calling to “properly prepare”. 

Small Euro state Latvia gives support to Emmanuel Macron, saying “We need to make sure that Ukraine wins in this war.”

The UK should reinstitute military conscription of British citizens to act as a deterrent against Russia, a NATO ally has urged.

Latvia’s state security service has started criminal proceedings against an MEP over allegedly working with Russian intelligence.

The foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said they “deeply regret the decision enabling the personal participation” of Lavrov.

Finland joined the three Baltic countries in banning vehicles with Russian license plates from entering their territory.

Strikes across Russia overnight are the largest of the Ukraine war so far, reports claim, and hit targets as far away as northeastern Europe.

Poland says the country is going to considerably grow its deployment to its border where NATO meets Moscow satellite Belarus.

Nearly 50,000 Russian men have died in the war in Ukraine, according to the first independent statistical analysis of Russia´s war dead.

Those caught driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs seeing their cars shipped straight to Ukraine to help with the war effort.

Russia-bordering Estonia and Latvia plan jointly to acquire German air defense systems for the protection of the two NATO nations’ airspace.

The three Baltic states condemned comments by China’s envoy to France, who suggested that former Soviet republics aren’t sovereign nations.

Typhoon jets from the RAF and Luftwaffe with the NATO Baltic air policing mission scrambled to intercept two Russian jets.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola called for fighter jets to be sent to Ukraine as she made a surprise visit to the country.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – In a dusty workshop in northern Lithuania, a dozen men are transforming hundreds of wheel rims into potbelly stoves to warm Ukrainians huddled in trenches and bomb shelters. As the sparks subside, one welder marks the countertop: 36 made that day. Hours later, they’ve reached 60.

VALAKELIAI, Lithuania (AP) – A powerful gas pipeline explosion that prompted the evacuation of a village in northern Lithuania was most likely caused by a technical malfunction, the head of the country’s natural gas transmission system said Saturday.

An explosion hit a pipeline connecting Latvia and Lithuania on Friday afternoon, sparking an evacuation of the nearby village.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the West should work to degrade Russia, citing the drones that Iran has been providing to Moscow.

For Ukrainian and Russian military planners, the clock is ticking, with the approach of winter expected to make fighting more complicated.

The Prime Minister of Estonia has warned that her country faces blackouts if Russia disconnects the three Baltic states — all NATO and EU members — from its grid amid the ongoing Russo-Western sanctions war. 

A private jet with four people onboard crashed Sunday in the Baltic Sea off the Latvian coast.

The Latvian government has gone ahead with the demolition of a Soviet-era war memorial in the capital city of Riga this week, the latest Soviet monument to be destroyed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Irish government’s decision to spend around €1 billion on migrants in 2022 is “outrageous”, a populist leader within the country has said.

(AFP) – Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Latvia on Saturday following tensions between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and sweeping European and U.S. sanctions against Russia.

As a number of EU leaders – including the President of Poland – visit Ukraine, Germany has been left licking its wounds after apparently being told that their head of state is ‘not wanted’ in the country.

European politicians floated an embargo on Russian gas after accusing Moscow of being behind an alleged massacre of civilians.

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) – Lithuania on Monday announced that it will expel Russia’s ambassador and recall its envoy in Moscow in reaction to increasing signs that Russian forces may have committed war crimes in Ukraine.

Viewed from Paris, London and Washington, the events unfolding in Ukraine may seem like a new Cold War taking shape in Europe.

Russia has mocked Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary for appearing to suggest the Baltic States are located on the Black Sea, suggesting the world needs to be saved from “the stupidity and ignorance of Anglo-Saxon politicians” 

Latvian Archbishop Zbigniew Stankiewicz warned this weekend that if Vladimir Putin invades Ukraine, there is nothing to stop him from continuing further west into Eastern and Central Europe.

A 19-year-old Latvian national has been arrested in Latvia this week as part of an investigation into a people-smuggling gang linked to the deaths of two Syrian migrants in Austria in October.

Stolen yachts, including some with U.S. registrations, are being used by people smugglers to sneak migrants into Italy.

The EU will grant detention and deportation powers to Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia to fend off the migrant crisis with Belarus.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Lawmakers from all three Baltic states met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday in a sign of further cooperation between European Union nations and Taiwan.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stated on Sunday that his country was in talks with the leaders of Lithuania and Latvia over invoking NATO Article 4 as the migrant crisis with Belarus continues. Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty

EU foreign ministers are expected Monday to decide to expand sanctions against Belarus to include airlines, travel agents and individuals.