The Latvian government has postponed reviewing Welfare Minister Evika Silina’s (New Unity) proposed draft bill on the ratification of the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence, LETA reports. One of the parties in the coalition government, United List, wanted to introduce additions to the draft bill. United List’s parliamentary…
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) has decided to shut down the business operations of Klaugu Muiza, which is ultimately owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Pyotr Aven, LETA reports. At the same time, VID banned any reorganisation of the company and change of board members. The company owns the Klaugu Manor in Lazdona parish. The EU…
Parties in Latvia’s Riga City Council are still at odds with each other, acting mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) admitted, LETA reports. Following a meeting between New Unity and the combined faction of Movement For and the Progressives (PP), Kirsis said that “the spirit of compromise and cooperation had yet to be born on a…
Latvia’s new president, Edgars Rinkevics, is “more people-oriented” than his predecessor, Egils Levits, Juris Rozenvalds, head of the Social and Political Studies Institute at the University of Latvia, said, LETA reports. Rozenvalds pointed out that Rinkevics had a sense of humour and was not as “preachy” as Levits. He noted that Rinkevics is popular among…
Russian President Vladimir Putin was wrong when he thought that the war in Ukraine would break NATO unity, US President Joe Biden said in a speech at Lithuania’s Vilnius University on 12 July 2023, LETA reports. “Putin thought that democratic leaders would be weak, but he thought wrong,” Biden stated. He assured that the US…
Latvia’s Prime Minister, Krisjanis Karins, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met in Riga on 10 July 2023, The Baltic Times reports. The two prime ministers stressed the need for cooperation in strengthening the EU’s external borders and controlling external migration. Karins noted that Italy and Latvia were developing a similar understanding on migration and…
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) does not have information that would indicate that Russia’s private military company, Wagner Group, currently poses a direct threat to Latvia, LETA reports. VDD said that it obtained information on Wagner Group’s activities constantly and continued to assess the risks associated with the mercenary group to both national and regional…
The Nordic and Baltic countries and Poland expect Sweden’s membership of NATO to increase security in the Baltic Sea region, The Baltic Times reports. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Sweden was joining NATO as a “motivated partner,” after 200 years of non-alignment. Finnish President Sauli Niinistö reiterated that Finland’s membership of NATO was…
The threat from Russia is and will remain real, and all NATO allies must understand and take it “extremely seriously,” Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, stated, The Baltic Times reports. Speaking at the opening debate of a NATO conference in Vilnius, Kallas noted that all allies contributed 2% of GDP to defence in 1988 because…