Baltic: European Commission criticises Estonia, Lithuania over laws on child suspects

The European Commission (EC) has criticised Estonia and Lithuania for failing to transpose an EU directive on the rights of child suspects properly into national legislation, BNS reports. The EC opened an infringement procedure by sending a formal notice for failure to transpose the EU directive on procedural safeguards for children suspected or accused of…

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Lithuania: President criticises Defence Minister’s Facebook posts about German tanks

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda criticised Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas for sharing information on Lithuania’s plans to sign a letter of intent on the purchase of Leopard tanks from Germany, LRT reports. Nauseda said that the State Defence Council (VGT) had agreed that restricted information “should not be shared on Facebook right after the meeting.” He…

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Latvia: State Security Service probes gas company Latvijas Gaze

Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) is investigating whether the decision of Latvian gas company Latvijas Gaze’s shareholder meeting to pay dividends to one of the company’s owners, Itera Latvija, violates EU sanctions on Russia, LETA reports, citing TV3. VDD stressed that providing financial resources to sanctioned entities, directly or indirectly, was prohibited. Latvijas Gaze insisted…

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Estonia: Competition Authority okays Utilitas takeover of Tallinna Soojus

The Estonian Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet) has approved a takeover of Tallinn’s municipal company, Tallinna Soojus, by private energy group Utilitas, ERR reports. Following the takeover, Tallinna Soojus and Utilitas will establish a new joint venture, Utilitas Tallinna Soojus, which will become the new parent company of Tallinna Soojus. Utilitas will own 66.66% and Tallinn municipality…

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Latvia: Sputnik Lithuania editor-in-chief flees Latvia after trial

The editor-in-chief of Russian propaganda agency Sputnik’s Lithuanian edition, Marats Kasems, has fled Latvia, fearing criminal prosecution, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, announced, LETA reports. Riga-based Russian independent news website Meduza reported that Kasems was now in Russia. Meanwhile, his Facebook page indicates that he is currently in the UK. Earlier, Kasems pled…

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