Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) has identified 985 Russian citizens who did not comply with the law on immigration and may therefore have to leave the country, LETA reports. The persons have two weeks to respond to notifications urging them to legalise their status. Some of the persons may already have left…
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…
There will be no referendum against same-sex civil partnership in Latvia, LSM reports. A campaign to hold a popular referendum to suspend the publication of the new partnership law collected just some 15% of the around 155,000 signatures needed. The campaign, which was supported by the opposition United List, National Alliance, Latvia First, and For…
Lithuania’s ruling coalition has failed to secure enough votes to pass the law on civil union, Ausrine Armonaite, chairwoman of the Freedom Party, conceded, BNS reports. She said that legalising same-sex unions did not receive sufficient support from Freedom Party’s coalition partners, Homeland Union (TS-LKD) and the Lithuanian Liberal Movement (LLS). Armonaite estimated that 66…
The number of school students learning Russian has declined by 25% in Estonia, ERR reports. An official at the Ministry of Education said that 59% of students in grades 4-6 learned Russian in the school year 2023/2024, which was down from 78% in the year before. Around 20% of students have switched from Russian to…
Estonia’s ruling coalition plans to lower the country’s voting age in all elections to 16 years, ERR reports. The coalition has agreed on cutting the minimum voting age in elections to the European Parliament. Under the plan, teenagers would be able to vote in European elections in 2029. The coalition parties want to cut the…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved amendments raising the smoking age limit from 18 to 20 years as of 1 January 2025, LSM reports. The law covers cigarettes, tobacco products, herbal smoking items, electronic smoking devices, and refill containers. Violations can result in fines of EUR 280-700 for individuals and EUR 700-7,100 for legal…
There are not enough votes at the moment in the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, to tighten restrictions on Belarusian citizens, Laurynas Kasciunas, chairman of the parliament’s national security and defence committee, stated, BNS reports. Under existing legislation, Belarusians face fewer limitations than Russian citizens. President Gitanas Nauseda has demanded equal restrictions on Belarusians and Russians,…
Lithuania’s Education Minister, Gintautas Jakstas, has proposed phasing out secondary education in Russian, following the Latvian and Estonian example, BNS reports. He suggests focusing on EU languages. The Ministry of Education is exploring ways to suspend Russian as a language of tuition, with a proposal expected soon. Jakstas emphasised that Russian schools would not be…