Latvia’s opposition Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) is planning to request the dismissal of Agriculture Minister Didzis Šmits, Baltic News Network reports. ZZS press secretary Dace Karklina said that the party supported the position of the Latvian Farmers Union (LZS) that the minister’s inaction and failure to set limits had resulted in uncontrollable increases…
Latvia’s President, Egils Levits, paid his last foreign visit to Lithuania, meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, on 5 July 2023, LSM reports. Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics will take office as Latvia’s new president on 8 July 2023. Rinkevics will make his first official visit abroad as president to Estonia on 10 July 2023, ERR…
Estonian debt collection and credit management company Aktiva Finance Group will acquire Swedish credit management company Intrum Group’s business in the Baltic States for EUR 30mn, TVNET reports. Under the deal, Aktiva Finance Group will acquire 100% of shares in Intrum Group’s subsidiaries in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The transaction is expected to be closed…
Housing prices in the Baltic States rose the fastest in Lithuania in the first quarter of 2023, according to Eurostat data, BNS reports. Compared to a year earlier, housing prices rose by 13.1% in Lithuania, which was the second-highest increase in the EU. Housing prices in Estonia rose by 9.2% and in Latvia by 6%…
Latvia’s Riga City Council has appointed Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) as acting mayor, following the resignation of mayor Martins Stakis, The Baltic Times reports. Meanwhile, city councillor Miroslavs Kodis said that the political group of Movement For and Progressives was considering proposing deputy mayor Linda Ozola of the Code for Riga party as acting mayor…
Latvia’s Riga City Council will hold an extraordinary meeting on 5 July 2023, following the resignation of mayor Martins Stakis, LETA reports. The meeting plans to appoint deputy mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) as the acting mayor of Riga. Deputy mayor Linda Ozola (Code for Riga) supported the appointment of Kirsis as acting mayor until…
Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, leader of the New Unity party, urged his coalition partners to prioritise the national interest and set aside personal ambitions and concerns about their posts, LETA reports. Karins expressed his disappointment that only opposition parties, namely the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) and the Progressives, have attended talks initiated…
Latvia’s Minister of Agriculture, Didzis Šmits, has finally been given access to official secrets, the Agriculture Ministry announced, LETA reports. The Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB) confirmed that the minister has received a permit to access official secrets. Security agencies took six months to review his application. Šmits was the last minister without access to official…
The European Commission has approved a financing package of EUR 305mn from the Connecting Europe Facility for transport infrastructure projects in Latvia during the 2021-2027 financial period, the Ministry of Transport announced, Baltic News Network reports. The ministry will allocate the funds to several key initiatives, including EUR 298mn for the Rail Baltica railway project,…