Several hundred people protested outside the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, on 2 October 2025 against a proposal for Latvia to withdraw from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, LSM reports. The convention aims to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. MPs from opposition parties and the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS),…
Websites of several state institutions in Latvia were hit by a major distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack on the morning of 2 October 2025, according to the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), LSM reported. The attack disrupted the websites of e-government portal Latvija.lv, electronic signature service eParaksts, the State Revenue Service (VID), the Cabinet…
The Latvian government has approved amendments to the law on electronic communications that would allow police and border guards to use signal jammers to combat illegal drones, LSM reports. If approved in parliament, the amendments would allow the State Police and the State Border Guard (VRS) to use special radio equipment to interrupt unwanted radio…
The supervisory board of Latvia’s state-owned passenger train operator, Pasazieru Vilciens (Vivi), has appointed Raitis Nespors as the company’s new board chairman for a five-year term, LSM reports. Nespors served as member of Vivi’s management board in 2021-2024. Also, the supervisory board appointed Zane Abolina as a new member to Vivi’s board. Marcis Kaulins continues…
Most banks in Latvia will be eligible for rebates on so-called solidarity tax payments in 2025, according to the Bank of Latvia, LETA reports. The central bank noted that the growth of lending has been appreciably faster in 2025. Therefore, most banks will qualify for discounts on their solidarity contributions, amounting to 25-100%. The new…
Business sentiment in Latvia improved in all economic sectors in September 2025, according to the Central Statistical Bureau’s (CSP) latest survey, LSM reports. The business confidence indicator was 4.8% in retail trade, which was up 1.5 percentage points from August 2025. Business confidence stood at 1.7% in services (up 1.3 points), negative 3.5% in manufacturing…
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid a working visit to Latvia on 8 July 2025, LSM reported. He held talks with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics and Prime Minister Evika Silina. Steinmeier highlighted Germany’s special connection and historical and cultural ties with Latvia. Speaking about bilateral cooperation on security policy, he noted that Latvia was beginning to…
Latvia’s Riga International Airport (RIX) served more than 3.3 million passengers in the first half of 2025, which was 5% more than in the same period of 2024, LSM reported. The number of flights increased by 3% to 30,378. The airport’s cargo turnover rose by 9% to 9,194 tonnes.
The Estonian government has rejected an offer to buy shares in Latvia’s national air carrier, airBaltic, LSM reports. Estonia’s Infrastructure Minister, Kuldar Leis, explained that the decision was due to the fact that airBaltic’s change of management had not been completed and its financial situation remained problematic. He said that Estonia would not raise airport…
