The Latvian government has approved a draft law on ratifying the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence, LSM reports. An accompanying declaration states that Latvia will apply the convention in line with the Constitution, “in particular with regard to the protection of human rights, equality between women and men,…
If Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda decides to veto the government’s bill on gender-neutral civil unions, it would cause an “international scandal,” Economy Minister Ausrine Armonaite, chairwoman of the liberal Freedom Party, stated, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview on Ziniu Radijas, Armonaite urged Nauseda to take a stronger position on “defending European values.” Nauseda has not…
Estonia’s Minister of Justice, Kalle Laanet (Reform), has proposed that citizens of “aggressor states” be deprived of the right to vote in local elections in Estonia, ERR reports. The ban would apply to nearly 69,000 Russian and Belarusian citizens who are permanent residents in Estonia. The voter turnout in Estonia’s previous municipal elections in October…
Lithuania’s Ministry of Justice has proposed amendments to a controversial law that protects minors from information about LGBT people, LRT reports. The ministry proposed removing a provision stipulating that “information that denigrates family values and promotes a different concept of marriage and family” than the one enshrined in the Constitution is harmful to minors. The…
Latvia’s Ministry of Welfare has submitted the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence for approval to the government, LETA reports. Under the draft law, ratification would include a reservation that Latvia would implement the convention in line with “the values, principles, and norms enshrined in the Constitution,” which stipulates…
Lithuania’s Constitutional Court ruled that legislation allowing the spelling of names of Lithuanian citizens in Latin-based non-Lithuanian characters in official documents does not violate the country’s Constitution, Baltic News Network reports. A group of 30 MPs, mostly from the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVZS), had petitioned the court over the constitutionality of the…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has begun discussing a proposal from the parliamentary speaker, Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, to seek the Constitutional Court’s opinion on the compatibility of the Istanbul Convention with the country’s Constitution, BNS reports. The corresponding draft resolution passed the first reading in parliament. The final vote on the resolution will take place in…