Despite being lauded as a digital posterchild, Estonia’s e-governance fell short during the COVID-19 crisis. Its Baltic neighbours, Latvia and Lithuania, fared no better.

The resignation of Prime Minister Ratas and his government comes after accusations of corruption within the Centre Party. Politics in Estonia is entering a phase rarely seen before in its modern history.

The second round of Lithuania's general election took place on Sunday with the results showing a win for the conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats.

Lithuania’s general election is far from over, and the makeup of the Seimas, the 13th parliament, will not be known until after the decisive runoff vote this Sunday. We can, however, draw some tentative conclusions.

A review of The Shadow in the East. Vladimir Putin and the New Baltic Front. By: Aliide Naylor. Publisher: I.B. Tauris, London, 2020.

The ambitious Rail Baltica project that aims to build a rail link from Helsinki to Poland has hit many hurdles and continues to face many setbacks. Despite some progress in overcoming these barriers, many questions remain unanswered – including whether the rail system will be operational in 2026, as planned.

The staggering 5.8 billion euro Rail Baltica project, to be built from the Estonian capital of Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border, has become so complicated and sophisticated that the Latvian Transport Minister, Talis Linkaits, recently admitted that “Something will be built by the end of 2025, for sure.”

The elections to Estonia's Riigikogu wrapped up an unprecedented few months for the political representation of women in the country. The aftermath proved there is still a long road ahead.

Interview with Seth G. Jones, director of the International Center for Security and Defense Policy at RAND. Interviewer: Michael Lambert

This week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received some mediocre, but comedic negativity during a series of rapid-fire questions asked by Maclean’s magazine to promote an upcoming town hall at the National Arts Center in Ottawa. The light-hearted questions included the following: Last thing you cooked on the stove? – “Scrambled Eggs.”

What’s the first line of poetry that comes to mind? – Recites Cyrano de Bergerac

What’s your Achilles heel? – “I geek out way too easily.”

Nova Scotia or British Columbia? – “Yeah, not a chance I’m answering that.”

Favourite Baltic Nation? – “That’s not a thing.”