Weekly Latvian news digest

Celebrating 34 years of freedom since the end of Soviet occupation! | 2025 digest index

Saturday, September 13 – Friday, September 19, 2025

Tensions have ratcheted up across Europe this week, with a sharp focus on NATO's eastern flank and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, who find themselves at the center of escalating provocations from Russia.

In a move described as "unprecedentedly brazen," three Russian MIG-31 fighter jets violated Estonian airspace early Friday morning. The aircraft entered without authorization near the Baltic Sea island of Vaindloo, staying for 12 minutes with their transponders off and without making radio contact with air traffic control. The Estonian military reported that Italian F-35s, part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission, were scrambled to intercept the jets. This marks the fourth such violation of Estonia's airspace by Russia this year.

The incident drew swift condemnation. Estonia's Prime Minister Kristen Michal called the violation "completely unacceptable," while Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia's "growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure". The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, labeled it an "extremely dangerous provocation".

In response, Estonia has requested consultations under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, a step taken when a member feels its territorial integrity or security is threatened. A NATO spokeswoman confirmed the alliance "responded immediately" and called the incursion "yet another example of reckless Russian behaviour". This is the third incident involving Russian aircraft on NATO's eastern flank in just over a week, following Russian drones being shot down over Poland and another violating Romanian airspace.

Meanwhile, Lithuania and Latvia have also been dealing with Russian-linked threats. On Wednesday, Lithuanian prosecutors announced the detention of a Russia-linked network alleged to have planned arson attacks across Europe. The suspects, including citizens of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, are accused of sending packages with homemade incendiary devices to the U.K. and Poland on behalf of Russia's military intelligence services. The devices, containing the highly explosive substance thermite, were hidden inside massage cushions and cosmetics tubes. More than 30 searches were conducted across Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Estonia as part of the investigation.

Separately, Latvia's State Security Service announced on Wednesday it had detained a man suspected of passing intelligence about military sites, NATO troop deployments, and training exercises to Russia.

These security threats underscore the Baltic states' long-held belief that a Russian invasion is inevitable. In response, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have established the "Baltic Defense Line," the largest fortification effort in Europe since World War II. The project, expected to take up to ten years, includes a 600-mile-wide defensive installation featuring anti-tank obstacles like "dragon's teeth," trenches, surveillance systems, and a minimum of 600 bunkers each along their shared border with Russia. Estonia has already begun constructing a 40-kilometer trench. Lithuanian officials warn that the most dangerous time for the Baltics will be immediately after any ceasefire in Ukraine.

The backdrop to these events includes large-scale "Zapad 2025" war games conducted by Russia and Belarus. The exercises, which included rehearsing the launch of Russian tactical nuclear weapons hosted in Belarus, have unnerved neighboring countries.

In other regional news:

• The European Space Agency is inviting university students from Latvia and Lithuania, among other member states, to apply for its Technology Transfer, Application & Innovation Workshop, aimed at fostering entrepreneurship using space technologies.
• A new climate change study found that while most of Europe experienced a brutally hot summer, the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were the only three countries in the study that did not experience hotter-than-usual summers.
• And finally, a Finnish-made uncrewed airship is undergoing NATO evaluation and will take part in the Digital Backbone Experimentation (DiBaX) exercise in Latvia, which will test the use of unmanned vehicles in contested environments.

As the week closes, all eyes remain on the Baltics, where a determined effort to build defenses is matched only by the rising tide of aggression at their borders.