The coordination committee of the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility has approved another EUR 295.5mn of funding for the Baltic railway project, Rail Baltica, LSM reports. Of the total, EUR 47.1mn will go to Estonia, EUR 153.5mn to Latvia, and EUR 94.9mn to Lithuania. The project coordinator, RB Rail, said that the funds would be…
Latvia finally launched an early warning or cell broadcast system on 1 July 2025 after delays in the procurement process, LETA reports. The system was developed by Meditec for EUR 3.4mn under a contract with the Ministry of Interior’s Information Centre. The system will warn residents and visitors about natural disasters, military threats, or other…
Foreign-registered ships made altogether 2,741 visits at Latvian ports in the first half of 2025, which was down 7.1% from 2,949 visits in the same period of 2024, according to data from the Maritime Administration of Latvia (LJA), LETA reports. Foreign ships entered the Freeport of Riga 1,293 times, the Port of Liepaja 616 times,…
Over 600 couples in Latvia have registered partnerships in one year since partnerships were recognised in legislation, LSM reports. The Register of Natural Persons contained information on altogether 613 registered partnerships as of 1 July 2025, including 235 same-sex and 378 opposite-sex partnerships. Under the law, a partnership can be entered into by two adults,…
Latvia’s gross energy consumption remained stable in 2024, according to provisional data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. Gross energy consumption totalled 183 PJ, which was 1 PJ less than in 2023. Final energy consumption totalled 166 PJ, which was down 0.8% on year. Transport accounted for 47 PJ (28.4%) of final consumption,…
Renewable energy accounted for 73% of the total volume of electricity generated in Latvia in 2024, according to provisional data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. The volume of electricity produced from renewable sources totalled 4,643 GWh in 2024. Hydro, wind, and solar power plants generated a total of 4,022 GWh of electricity…
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, met with his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts on a working visit to Riga and Vilnius, LSM reports. The foreign ministers discussed bilateral cooperation, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East. Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze expressed hope for more permanent solutions in Israel’s relations with Lebanon…
Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) has reported a sharp rise in secondary migration via Latvia, BNS reports. Altogether 352 irregular migrants who entered Latvia from Belarus were detained in Lithuania and Poland in the first half of 2025, which was up 2.5 times from 140 in the same period of 2024. Most of the…
Over half of Latvian municipalities have new mayors following local elections on 7 June 2025, LETA reports. Municipal councils elected altogether 22 new chairpersons, while 20 incumbent mayors remained in office. Political groups that received the most votes failed to secure the mayorship in 12 municipalities, including in Riga, Jelgava, and Ventspils. In some municipalities,…