Estonia will secularise faster than the other Baltics

Significance

Lithuania is the most religious: the predominant Roman Catholic Church’s socio-political influence has been increasing regarding the still-sensitive issues of LGBT+ and women’s rights. Patriarchal values are helping traditional religious entities regain influence in Latvia. Estonia is the most successful in separating religion and politics.

Impacts

• In Latvia and Lithuania, religious and social conservatism will together hinder gender equality.
• The outlook for gender equality and human rights is better in Estonia.
• The president’s Catholicism will align Lithuania’s EU stance more towards Poland, its larger Catholic neighbour.
• Vilnius’s Jewish heritage -- culture, festivals, food and drink, and the surviving synagogue-- will attract West European tourists.