Latvia: Interior Minister urges investigation of police chief

Latvia’s Interior Minister, Janis Dombrava, has called for an internal investigation of State Police chief Armands Ruks, LSM reports. Earlier, an off-duty police officer killed a man in Priekule and another police officer caused a road traffic accident near Aizkraukle, both while severely intoxicated, LETA and LSM reported. Speaking in an interview with TV3, Dombrava…

Read Full News

Lithuania: Stricter sanctions on Russians, Belarusians proposed

Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry has proposed expanding national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens, BNS reports. Under the proposed draft legislation, Russian and Belarusian individuals and organisations would be barred from public cultural or sports events in Lithuania if they have operated in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, directly or indirectly support the war against Ukraine, or…

Read Full News

Lithuania: President proposes to restrict migration

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has proposed stricter rules on migration, BNS reports. Under the proposal, labour migrants would be required to leave Lithuania for at least six months after every two years of work. Also, the labour migrant quota would include not only new migrants but also those already in Lithuania. Skirmantas Bikelis, senior research…

Read Full News

Estonia: New plans to reduce alcohol consumption

An interagency commission of the Estonian government has proposed several measures to reduce the consumption of alcohol in the country, ERR reports. The commission has published a framework plan for Estonia’s alcohol policy for 2026-2035. The document calls for raising the alcohol excise tax, shortening retail alcohol sales hours, reducing the number of licensed outlets,…

Read Full News

Baltic: Call to ban EU funding for IOC

Latvia and Lithuania and six other EU member states have joined Estonia’s call to ban EU funding for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), ERR reported. Earlier, the IOC executive committee provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, allowing Russian athletes to return to international competitions under the Russian flag. Under the Estonian proposal,…

Read Full News

Latvia: Prosecutor General vows action on disinformation

People abusing freedom of speech to spread disinformation and hate speech should be detained and isolated from society, Latvia’s Prosecutor General, Armins Meisters, stated, LETA reports. He said that the Prosecution Office would take action against specific individuals who were acting against Latvia’s national interests under the cover of press freedom and freedom of expression….

Read Full News

Latvia: Culture Minister orders to stop using Russian

Latvia’s Minister of Culture, Nauris Puntulis, has ordered that the ministry stop using Russian in all official public functions, LETA reports. Under the order, the Ministry of Culture, its subordinate institutions, and state-owned companies under its management must stop using Russian at international events, strategic documents, advertising materials, official websites, and other public-facing functions by…

Read Full News