Estonia

The chargé d'affaires of the Russian embassy was given a diplomatic note declaring him persona non grata: the first secretary of the Russian embassy's staff must thus leave Estonia; the Foreign Minister cited incompatibility with Estonia values

About 17.500 people in Estonia receive weekly food assistance and despite recent soaring prices, the number hasn't changed much although donated and rescued food generally reflect changes occurring in the economy says Sven Lillepalu, at Estonian Food Bank

A new 5G 'pocket' siren technology transmitting threat alerts where mobile networks are down, was tested by the Estonian Ministry of the Interior in Tallinn, Pärnu and Rakvere

Construction of anti-tank ditches on the southeastern border will begin this week; anti-tank measures on the Estonian-Russian border are part of the Baltic Defence Line initiative, designed to halt a potential enemy military land attack

Inter-island ferry services revise schedules to meet demand, that registered a +8% in two years; there has been an increase in the use of smaller ferry routes, but the busiest remain Hiiumaa and Saaremaa, where passengers have to plan days in advance

A cultural cooperation programme until the year 2029 has been signed with Ukraine at mInisterial level

Estonia’s first training center for unmanned aerial vehicles has been opened at the Koigi grass airfield and will support the training of the Defence League, the Defence Forces and allied units

189,5 million eggs were produced in Estonia in 2024, +6% compared to 2023 and the average annual egg production was 138 eggs per person, while consumption per person was 259 eggs, including imported eggs

This year's state pension index, approved by the Estonian government, has increased the average old-age pension from 774 euros to 817 euros and the national pension to 393 euros per month as of April 1

Due to population growth, the Tallinn City Government is planning to build new schools, giving priority to the city districts of Põhja-Tallinn, Lasnamäe and Haabersti

Economic growth of 1,2% in the fourth quarter of last year, which ended ten quarters of recession, surprised analysts, as it was significantly higher than the initial estimate of Statistics Estonia

The number of international students in Estonian higher education institutions has decreased since the 2019/2020 academic year when they accounted for 12,2% of the total student population; this year, 8,7% of the population is from abroad

The Social Democratic Party wants to limit political donations to €100.000 and intends to change the law before the next election; party chairman Lauri Läänemets stated that political decisions should not be made by a small group of people