The European Union’s top court has delivered a historic victory for LGBTQ+ rights, ruling that all member states must recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed in any EU country. In a decision announced on November 25, 2025, the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) held that refusing to acknowledge such marriages is “contrary to EU law” because it infringes fundamental rights – specifically the freedom of movement and the right to respect for private and family life.

The Northern Voices is celebrating a milestone that once felt like a distant dream: our one-year anniversary as the premier digital platform for Nordic and Baltic culture in North America. Launched in mid-2024 with a bold mission to give Nordic and Baltic creatives “a louder voice in the American cultural landscape, one story at a time”, we have since grown into a thriving community with over 13,000 active users in our first year.

As Russia intensifies its hybrid pressure on Europe, Estonia and Latvia—two of NATO’s smallest members—find themselves once again on the front line of history. Decades after regaining independence from Soviet rule, both nations are confronting a new wave of influence from Moscow, targeting their sizable Russian-speaking populations through propaganda, cyberattacks, and political manipulation. In response, Tallinn and Riga are tightening language laws, curbing Kremlin-linked organizations, and reinforcing social unity as a matter of national survival. For Estonians and Latvians abroad, especially in North America, these developments are more than headlines—they’re reminders of why their parents fled, and why safeguarding their homelands remains a shared mission across oceans.

The term “Baltic countries” today commonly refers to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, three small nations on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. This usage emerged only in the 20th century. Before World War I, the idea of a unified “Baltic” group of nations did not really exist – Estonia and Latvia were known as the Baltic Provinces of the Russian Empire, while Lithuania was often grouped with Poland. After World War I, however, a cluster of newly independent states formed on the Baltic Sea’s eastern shore. Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – all gaining independence around 1917–1918 – were initially all considered “Baltic states” in the interwar period.