Estonia does not support banning young people from accessing social media, Estonia’s Justice and Digital Affairs Minister, Liisa Pakosta, announced, ERR reports. Earlier, the European Parliament proposed setting an EU-wide age limit on social media platforms. Under the plan, children could use social media from the age of 13 with parental consent and independently from…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has approved the country’s new cabinet of ministers, BNS reports. He described the incoming centre-left government as more capable than the outgoing centre-right government of Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte. The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) will hold the post of prime minister and will have nine ministers in the new government,…
The Latvian government has approved new regulations under which transport and related infrastructure, signs, and information must be in Latvian and, if needed, in another official EU language, LSM reports. The new rules will thus preclude such signs in Russian. Justice Minister Inese Libina-Egnere said that the new rules would create a more attractive environment…
The chairwoman of Estonia’s Political Party Funding Supervision Committee (ERJK), Liisa Oviir, has criticised the lack of progress on proposed amendments to the law on political parties, ERR reports. The amendments would expand the committee’s powers to supervise the financing of non-party organisations affiliated with political parties. Despite assurances from previous ministers of justice that…
The leader of Lithuania’s far-right Dawn of Nemunas party, Remigijus Zemaitaitis, announced that his party was likely to nominate Virginijus Kulikauskas, former head of the Lithuanian Prison Service, to the position of justice minister, ELTA reports. Earlier, former justice minister, lawyer Gintautas Bartkus declined the party’s nomination to the ministerial post. Meanwhile, President Gitanas Nauseda…
Several ministries in Estonia have criticised the Ministry of Climate’s proposed new climate law, ERR reports. The ministries argued that the bill’s structure and purpose were unclear, and that the bill failed to define the rights and obligations under the proposed law. Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets and Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta said that the bill…
The Estonian government has agreed on switching to need-based social benefits in 2028, Education Minister Kristina Kallas announced, BNS reports. She argued that the state and taxpayers could no longer afford distributing equal support to everyone, and that doing so was not even necessary. Better data would allow the state to provide better personalised services, Kallas…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has approved in first reading a bill that would oblige foreign workers to serve customers in Lithuanian, BNS reports. Altogether 100 MPs voted in favour, 5 against, and 14 abstained. Under the amendments, the language requirement would only apply to employees who have direct contact with clients. Also, manufacturers, sellers,…
Estonia is considering housing foreign prisoners in one of its prisons, Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta announced, BBC reports. Estonia’s three prisons in Tallinn, Tartu, and Jõhvi have room for around 1,000 additional prisoners, according to ERR. Pakosta estimated that the state could earn up to EUR 30mn per year from renting out prison space to…