Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland called in a joint statement on the European Commission to terminate investment protection treaties with Russia that remain in force in 17 member states. According to Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the treaties are being used to influence European Union (EU) policy in Russia’s favor and their continued application threatens the bloc’s overall economic security. The ministry said the treaties contain provisions that encourage investment in Russia and allow individuals under sanctions to bring claims before international courts against member states and against the EU as a whole. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the EU’s task was to ensure “that Russia’s international isolation is maintained without concessions.”
Theme: Latvia
The Latvian government led by Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs resigned on Tuesday but will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new cabinet is formed. Under Latvian law, the outgoing government is deemed to have resigned when the newly elected parliament holds its first sitting. The resignation is a planned procedure, because the current government holds a mandate of confidence only from the previous parliament. Kulbergs’ United List alliance won 41 of the 100 seats in the October 3 election, short of the majority needed to govern alone.
Latvia's armed forces briefly warned on Monday of a threat in the airspace over two regions and activated NATO air-policing fighter jets, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Street Insider, and later said the danger had passed, with the object believed to be on the ground in Latvia near the Russian border.
Two Latvian men living in the United Kingdom, aged 32 and 26, were arrested at about 2 a.m. Thursday after being found inside RAF Molesworth, in Cambridgeshire, which hosts the Intelligence Fusion Centre of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Joint Intelligence Operations Center, Europe, according to The Guardian. The investigation began four hours earlier, when military police found an abandoned vehicle near the facility, and police later found a small hole in the perimeter fence, according to The Hindu. The men were initially arrested on suspicion of trespass on a prohibited site and causing criminal damage, then on suspicion of an offence under section 4 of the National Security Act 2023, namely entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK, and were later released on bail, with strict conditions, while the investigation continues.
Latvia ordered 84 combat vehicles from Spain’s GDELS-Santa Bárbara Sistemas for about €800 million, with all of them due to be delivered by 2029, according to Middle East Eye. The Mednieks infantry fighting vehicles carry UT30 MK2 unmanned turrets produced by Israel’s Elbit Systems, despite the arms embargo Spain declared on Israel last year.
The United List, the centrist, pro-Ukraine party of Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs, won the country's parliamentary election by a wide margin, Al Jazeera reported. According to Reuters, the governing party secured the biggest parliamentary election victory since Latvia regained independence in 1991 and was set to retain power and form a pro-Ukraine coalition.
Exit polls published by Latvian public broadcaster LSM put Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’s centre-right United List in the lead with 35.6 percent in Saturday’s parliamentary election. Coalition partner the Union of Greens and Farmers appeared with 3.7 percent, below the five-percent threshold to enter parliament.
Polls opened in Latvia for an election taking place against the backdrop of perceived security threats from Russia and a cost-of-living squeeze, according to Al Jazeera. About 1.5 million people are eligible to vote in the country’s 11th parliamentary election since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The European Union (EU) sealed on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, the deal renewing sanctions on nearly 3,000 people and companies accused of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine for three years and removing billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list, after Latvia relented and opted for a constructive abstention, according to Euronews and The Guardian. Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the EU confirmed the “difficult compromise” hours before the midnight deadline: the rollover moves from six months to 36 months, until 22 September 2029. According to diplomats cited by Euronews, France tied Usmanov’s delisting to the release of two French nationals held in Azerbaijan, and Slovakia vetoed keeping Fridman on the list; The Guardian reports that Luxembourg had asked for the same treatment for Fridman, who is seeking $16 billion from the grand duchy over the freezing of his assets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision unacceptable and publicly thanked Latvia for its resistance.
Latvia blocked the compromise that would have renewed European Union (EU) sanctions on almost 3,000 people and companies linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and ambassadors of the 27 will meet again on the morning of Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in a last attempt before the listings expire at midnight, according to Euractiv and The Guardian. The deadlock began with France’s demand to delist Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov, on grounds Paris describes as “national security” and which diplomats link to the release of two French nationals held in Azerbaijan; the removal of businessman Mikhail Fridman was then sought by Luxembourg, the target of a $16 billion arbitration he has filed, according to The Guardian, while Slovakia vetoed keeping him on the list. In exchange for the delistings, Paris and Bratislava accepted widening the renewal period from six months to three years, a concession that did not convince Riga. Without unanimity by midnight, some 3,000 asset freezes and travel bans lapse at once. The sectoral sanctions on the Russian economy, renewed for a year in June, are not affected by this standoff.