The number of border violations on Latvia’s eastern border with Belarus is increasing amid warmer weather, State Border Guard (VRS) chief Guntis Pujats announced, LSM reports. He noted that the situation on the border remained calm in January and early February 2024, but that the number of attempts to cross the border illegally had picked up…
Russia has issued arrest warrants against Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Deutsche Welle reports. This is the first time that Russia has opened a criminal case against an acting foreign head of government. The Russian Interior Ministry’s full database of wanted people, which was leaked to independent Russian media outlet Mediazona, indicated that Kallas and…
The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) has not found any more Lithuanian citizens with family ties to individuals subject to EU sanctions, BNS reports. LMD checked 3,571 individuals on sanctions lists and found that none of them or their spouses or children currently hold Lithuanian citizenship. LMD director Evelina Gudzinskaite said that earlier information, which indicated…
The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) has found several Lithuanian citizens with family ties to persons under EU sanctions, BNS reports. LMD started the investigation after media reported that two of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s children have Lithuanian citizenship and may have helped him evade sanctions. LMD is now checking thousands of people and plans to…
Estonia’s annual number of live births dropped to a new record low in 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Interior, ERR reports. The number of people born totalled 10,721 in 2023, which was down 867 from 11,588 a year earlier. Deaths totalled 15,832, which was down 1,413 from 17,245 in 2022. Deaths thus…
Russia’s Ministry of Interior has placed Kamile Seraite, member of the city council of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on its wanted list, BNS reports, citing Russian independent media outlet Mediazona. Seraite has campaigned for the removal of Soviet-era monuments and street names in Vilnius. She chairs the city’s Historical Memory Commission, which is in charge…
Lithuania’s Ministry of Interior will ask the parliament, the Seimas, to extend the validity of foreigner’s passports from one to three years, BNS reports. The Lithuanian Migration Department (LMD) issues foreigner’s passports to foreign nationals with Lithuanian residency who are unable to obtain a travel document from their country of origin. The Belarusian government has…
The Latvian government will extend the period for Russian citizens residing in the country to pass a Latvian language examination, LETA reports. The government instructed the Ministry of Interior to prepare amendments that would allow Russian citizens to apply for temporary residence permits for two years, during which time they would have to take the…
Estonia’s Ministry of Interior will propose banning the use of non-personalised prepaid SIM cards, ERR reports. Under the proposal, anyone would still be able to buy a prepaid SIM card, but would have to provide personal details to activate the card. Veiko Kommusaar, undersecretary for internal security at the Ministry of Interior, noted that Estonia…