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),…
Lithuania’s newly-appointed Culture Minister, Ignotas Adomavicius, has refused to resign despite mass protests across the country against his appointment, BNS reports. Adomavicius is a member of the far-right Dawn of Nemunas party. Cultural workers have held protests in several cities, insisting that Adomavicius is unfit to head the Ministry of Culture as he has no…
MPs from two parties in Estonia’s current coalition government have drafted a bill to cut the gambling tax, ERR reports. The group of MPs from the Estonian Reform Party and Estonia 200 proposed cutting the gambling tax by 0.5 percentage points every year to 4% by 2029. They argued that the tax cut could, in…
Three politicians in Lithuania are running to lead the opposition Lithuanian Liberal Movement (LLS), BNS reports. The candidates are the party’s current chairperson, MP Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen, who has led the party since 2019, MP and former culture minister Simonas Kairys, and Plunge mayor Audrius Klisonis. LLS will elect its chair for a two-year term through…
Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) checked around 2,000 bank statements without legal authority, Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise announced, ERR reports. FIU had obtained full bank statements via the data exchange layer connected to the enforcement register, whereas the law only allows FIU access to basic information about bank accounts. FIU told ERR that it…
Lithuania’s State Tax Inspectorate (VMI) found no tax violations at a startup company co-owned by Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, BNS reports. VMI initiated checks at battery system developer Garnis, of which Paluckas owns 49%, in June 2025, following a request from the chairman of the opposition Homeland Union, MP Laurynas Kasciunas. Earlier, the state-owned national…
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas has refused to subject himself to a vote of confidence in the parliament, the Seimas, BNS reports. Opposition MPs have demanded that the Prime Minister resign due to questions about his past business activities. Speaking after a “frank and sincere conversation” with President Gitanas Nauseda, Paluckas insisted that he continued…
The free world needs a new leader, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Estonia’s former prime minister Kaja Kallas, stated, ERR reports. Reacting to an acrimonious public exchange between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump in the White House on 28 February 2025, Kallas said that it was now up to Europeans to…
Lithuania should withdraw from the Ottawa Treaty banning anti-personnel mines, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas stated, BNS reports. He expects the Defence Ministry and Foreign Ministry to resolve the issue. Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said that the goal was to have a regional solution. Earlier, she said that military advice would be the key element in…