The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is investigating former Lithuanian MEP Viktor Uspaskich (Viktoras Uspasckichas) for possible fraud, LRT reports. EPPO suspects Uspaskich, founder and leader of the opposition Labour Party, of hiring fake assistants to misappropriate more than EUR 500,000 from the European Parliament. In April 2024, police searched the offices of the Labour…
Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) has conducted searches at two locations related to former MEP Tatjana Zdanoka (Tatyana Zhdanok) of the Latvian Russian Union (LKS), LETA reports. VDD confiscated data carriers, notes, and documents for further analysis. VDD confirmed that the searches were part of a criminal investigation into Zdanoka’s possible cooperation with Russian intelligence…
Lithuania’s EU commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevicius, will step down, having been elected to the European Parliament, BNS reports. He served as European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries since 2019. Sinkevicius has since been elected vice-president of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. Saulius Skvernelis, chairman of the opposition Union of Democrats…
Latvian MEP Roberts Zile has been reelected one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament, LSM reports. He is the only Baltic MEP elected to the post so far. Zile is a member of the opposition National Alliance, which is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group. He has served as MEP…
Latvian MEP Vilis Kristopans of the opposition Latvia First (LPV) party will join the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, LETA reports. The group includes many members who are sympathetic towards Russia. Kristopans expects that the number of members in the group will continue to grow. Kristopans served as prime minister of…
Lithuania’s opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVZS) and Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) could form a two-party coalition government after the parliamentary elections in October 2024, LVZS chairman Ramunas Karbauskis stated, ELTA reports. Speaking in an interview with Ziniu Radijas, Karbauskis said that the two parties could have a stable majority in parliament. However,…
Lithuanian MEP-elect Virginijus Sinkevicius has been elected as one of the six vice chairpersons of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament, BNS reports. Sinkevicius served as the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries in the outgoing European Commission. He is a member of the opposition Union of Democrats for Lithuania…
Lithuanian MEP Waldemar Tomaszewski has taken legal action at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Lithuanian authorities for discontinuing an investigation into derogatory comments made by TV presenter Arunas Valinskas, ELTA reports. Valinskas had called Tomaszewski, who leads the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania (LLRA), a “Colorado potato beetle” and suggested that…
Estonian MEP Jaak Madison has joined the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) in the European Parliament, ERR reports. Earlier, Madison left the far-right opposition party, Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE), which is part of the Identity and Democracy (ID) group in the EU parliament. Madison said that French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and…