Latvian banks made a total profit of EUR 350.312mn in the first half of 2023, which was up 2.6 times from EUR 132.526mn in the corresponding period of 2022, according to data from the Bank of Latvia, LETA reports. The banking sector’s overall profit for the first six months of 2023 was higher than for…
Estonia’s Narva City Council has dismissed the city’s mayor, Katri Raik, and appointed city administrator Jelena Golubeva as acting mayor, ERR reports. Altogether 19 out of 31 city councillors voted for the motion of no confidence, which was initiated by Aleksei Jevgrafov of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond). Jevgrafov accused Raik of incompetence and failure to…
Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, has approved a new coalition government led by Evika Silina with 53 votes for and 29 against, LSM reports. The three-party coalition consists of Silina’s centre-right New Unity party, the conservative Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), and the social-democratic Progressives. New Unity’s previous coalition partners, the National Alliance and the…
Teachers in Lithuania are staging a two-hour warning strike on 15 September 2023, BNS reports. The Lithuanian Education Employees Trade Union (LSDPS) expects around 5,000 teachers and other staff in 228 educational establishments to join the strike. The union demands a 20% increase in wages as of September 2023 and a further 30% rise from…
Latvians will elect one more MEP in the next elections to the European Parliament in June 2024, LETA reports. Currently, Latvia has eight MEPs. The European Parliament approved the European Council’s proposal to increase the number of MEPs from 705 to 720 due to demographic changes.
Estonia will terminate a legal assistance agreement with Russia, Justice Minister Kalle Laanet announced, ERR reports. The agreement primarily concerns cases under family and commercial law. Laanet noted that the Russian judicial system was political and untrustworthy. Russia made altogether 240 requests for legal assistance in 2022.
The Russian NGO, Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), which was founded by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, has asked the Baltic States to reconsider a ban on cars with Russian licence plates, LRT reports. FBK chairwoman Maria Pevchikh published letters that the organisation sent to Baltic governments, arguing that the ban undermined and discredited sanctions against…
Lithuania’s decision to distance from China and forge closer ties with Taiwan is one of the government’s most influential foreign policy initiatives, LRT reports. The move is part of Lithuania’s “values-based foreign policy,” which touts the country as a “freedom-loving outpost” in an increasingly authoritarian region. At the same time, officials admitted that the move…
Latvia’s Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has searched the offices of the municipal administration in Valmiera, LSM reports. KNAB detained Valmiera’s mayor, Janis Baiks, and other officials as part of the criminal investigation. The officials and representatives of several companies are suspected of misappropriating more than EUR 4mn of funds from the European Regional…