Latvia’s Health Ministry has proposed amendments to further restrict the availability of alcohol, LSM reports. The amendments would reduce the sales hours of alcoholic beverages, ban sales of alcohol at petrol stations, and raise the legal drinking age to 20 years. The ministry hopes that the amendments will reduce alcohol consumption, illness, injuries, and mortality….
Lithuania plans to sign a letter of intent to buy Leopard tanks from Germany, Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas announced, BNS reports. He noted that the acquisition would require sustainable financial sources. The minister said that the Leopard met the operational requirements best. Lithuania will acquire the tanks to create an army division. The Lithuanian parliament,…
Estonia’s Ministry of Interior will propose banning the use of non-personalised prepaid SIM cards, ERR reports. Under the proposal, anyone would still be able to buy a prepaid SIM card, but would have to provide personal details to activate the card. Veiko Kommusaar, undersecretary for internal security at the Ministry of Interior, noted that Estonia…
Lithuania’s President, Gitanas Nauseda, will propose stricter penalties for crimes against the state, BNS reports. The proposed amendments would introduce life sentences for organising or taking part in a coup. Currently, the maximum penalty for such an offense is 20 years in prison. Also, the president’s proposed legislation would introduce longer prison terms for being…
An overwhelming majority of Lithuanians support the establishment of a register of sex offenders, according to a new Baltijos Tyrimai poll for LRT. The survey showed that 91% of Lithuanians supported the establishment of such a register. Just 4% disagreed, while 5% did not have an opinion. In May 2023, a group of MPs proposed…
The Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) has no intention to make any concessions and will continue to obstruct the current coalition government’s work in the parliament, the Riigikogu, in autumn 2023, EKRE chairman Martin Helme stated, ERR reports. Earlier, the coalition suggested that opposition parties withdraw questions and legislative proposals so as not to…
Latvia’s Ministry of Justice plans to propose amendments that would abolish conditional prison sentences, replacing them with probation, LSM reports. Anda Smiltena, deputy secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, said that the State Probation Service’s (VPD) task would be to influence the thinking of the offender and correct their behaviour. The measures would…
The European Commission will refer Estonia to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failure to transpose the European Competition Network (ECN+) Directive into national legislation, ERR reports. The ECN+ Directive enables national competition authorities to enforce EU antitrust rules more effectively by ensuring their independence, resources, and enforcement tools. EU member states were required…
Estonia needs proactive legislation to restrict “harmful foreign media outlets,” in addition to sanctions imposed on Russia, Andres Jõesaar, media adviser at the Estonian Ministry of Culture, stated, ERR reports. He conceded that the recent controversial proposal by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) to monitor media bias was “badly worded.” However, Jõesaar…