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…
Latvian Defence Minister Andris Spruds has welcomed the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission to Latvia in a ceremony at the Lielvarde Air Base of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS), LSM reports. Latvia will host the mission for the next nine months during major reconstruction at Estonia’s Ämari Air Base. The mission’s other base at…
Latvia’s Ministry of Finance has outlined its provisional plan for passing the 2025 state budget, LSM reports. Under the plan, the Finance Ministry will discuss budget goals with other ministries over March 2024 and submit stability programmes for 2024-2028 to the government, the parliament, and the European Commission for approval on 30 April 2024. The…
Latvia’s State Police registered 781 road traffic accidents involving pedestrians in 2023, which was 60 more than in 2022, Baltic News Network reports. Of the total number of cases, 576 resulted in light injuries, 64 in severe injuries, and 30 in fatalities. Drunk driving and carelessness were the main reasons for the accidents, according to…
Russian fascist symbols continue to appear in public places in Latvia, LSM reports. In the latest incident, the letters Z and V, which indicate support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, were spray-painted onto a bus stop along the Jelgava highway in Olaine. Public outcry prompted state road management company Latvijas Valsts Celi to…
The Estonian government has failed to include a project to open a regular passenger train connection between Tartu and the Latvian capital, Riga, in its long-term budget plans for 2025-2027, ERR reports. The government points to concerns about a competing Latvian proposal that would entail lower costs but less convenient departure times. Nevertheless, the government…
Latvian fuel retailer Virsi-A (Virsi) posted consolidated unaudited net sales of EUR 343.732mn in 2023, which was down from EUR 375.110mn in 2022, LSM reported. The company’s gross profit amounted to EUR 37.692mn (EUR 32.771mn) and net profit to EUR 5.099mn (EUR 10.370mn). Virsi reported an all-time record EBITDA of EUR 13.7mn in 2023, which was…
Latvia’s Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) has recovered EUR 120,000 in a bribery case involving a Latvian company attempting to bribe a Lithuanian official, LSM reports. The individual was prosecuted in Lithuania, while KNAB held the Latvian company liable through local courts. The unnamed company had tried to bribe the commander of the Lithuanian…
The unadjusted gender pay gap in the Baltic States was highest in Estonia in 2022, according to Eurostat data, LSM reported. In Estonia, women’s average gross hourly wage was 21.3% lower than that of men in 2022, which was up from 20.5% in 2021. The gender pay gap stood at 17.1% (14.6%) in Latvia and…