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 Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed amendments mandating the country’s largest banks to provide in-person customer service and to maintain a network of ATMs outside big cities as of 2026, LSM reported. The new rules will apply to Swedbank, SEB, Citadele, and Luminor. Currently, the big banks have no permanent customer service points in…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, is discussing proposed amendments that would stop recognising Russian education certificates obtained after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, LSM reports. Under the amendments proposed by the opposition National Alliance, education certificates issued in Russia after 24 February 2022 would no longer be recognised in Latvia. National Alliance MPs…
Ukraine’s ambassador to Latvia, Anatolii Kutsevol, has asked the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, to pass a law to ban twin town agreements between Latvian municipalities and local governments in Russia and Belarus, LSM reports. In a letter to the parliament’s committee on public administration and local government, Kutsevol argued that such forms of cooperation were…
Latvia’s Central Election Commission (CVK) has proposed introducing new paper ballots for the municipal elections in summer 2025, LSM reports. The State Regional Development Agency (VRAA), which is in charge of the country’s voting system, notes that the existing paper ballots can be confusing for voters. CVK said that the new ballots would be simpler…
Estonia’s state-owned postal services provider, Eesti Post, which operates under the Omniva brand, plans to raise the price of universal postal services by a third as of 1 January 2025, ERR reports. If the Estonian Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet) approves the rate hike, the postage price of a standard domestic letter will rise from current EUR…
The Latvian government will propose amendments that would allow soldiers and internal affairs officers to continue in service while receiving retirement pension, BNS reports. Also, the government will propose amendments allowing people aged over 40 years to join professional service in the military or internal affairs. At present, only citizens aged 18-40 years are eligible…
Estonia ranks among the world’s top nations in cyber security, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union, BNS reports. The index assessed progress on digital security measures in terms of legal, organisational, technical, capacity-building, and cooperation efforts. The report pointed to Estonia’s robust cyber security legislation and regulation, effective organisational…
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, has voted to keep a civil union bill to recognise same-sex partnerships on the agenda of the parliament’s autumn session, BNS reports. Altogether 48 MPs voted to keep the bill on the agenda, another 48 were against, and 7 abstained. MPs initially supported the civil union bill in spring 2023….