Every tenth resident of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, is a foreign national, according to the city’s mayor, Valdas Benkunskas, ELTA reports. Vilnius has altogether around 76,000 foreign residents, of whom 61,000 (80%) are non-EU citizens, BNS reported. Around 40,000 of the foreigners, mostly from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, have temporary residence permits. The mayor warned…
All but two Latvian mayors have been granted access to state secrets as required by law, LETA reports. The State Security Service (VDD) has refused security clearances to Aleksandrs Bartasevics, chairman of the Rezekne city council, and Gatis Truksnis, former mayor of Jurmala. VDD is still reviewing the security clearances of five deputy chairs of…
Estonian capital Tallinn’s city council has approved the city budget for 2026, ERR reports. Total revenues are planned at EUR 1.2bn, including EUR 781.2mn from personal income tax, EUR 188.3mn in state and other grants, EUR 112.4mn from the sale of goods and services, EUR 36.4mn from land tax, and EUR 9.5mn from external funding….
Lithuania’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Arunas Jagminas, has resigned amid an investigation into possible corruption, BNS reports. Lithuania’s Special Investigation Service (STT) suspects Jagminas of abusing his office to embezzle high-value property in his role as director of a construction company in Silute, BNS reports. In addition, the corruption probe has implicated the director of…
The Latvian government has extended the enhanced border protection regime on the border with Belarus for another six months until 30 June 2026, LSM reports. The regime, which is in force in certain parishes and municipalities along the border, was due to expire at the end of 2025. The enhanced control regime was declared due…
Latvia’s Riga city council plans to sell the municipal housing company, Rigas Namu Parvaldnieks (RNP), LETA reports. Under the proposal, RNP would be reorganised and converted into a joint-stock company before the sale through a public securities offering. The plan is first to sell 51% of RNP’s shares. Individual investors would be a able to…
The new chairman of the city council of Estonia’s second-largest city, Tartu, Tõnis Lukas, has declined to join the city council faction of his own party, Fatherland (Isamaa), ERR reports. Lukas refused to be member of the same coalition as social media influencer Kris Kärner, who has made disparaging and threatening comments about Lukas and…
The city council of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, has elected Peeter Raudsepp of the national conservative Fatherland (Isamaa) party as the city’s new mayor, BNS reports. Prior to his election, Raudsepp was director of the Estonian Institute of Economic Research (EKI), ERR reports. He will serve as mayor for two years, after which the mayorship…
Lithuania’s opposition Homeland Union called on the ruling Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP) to cancel plans to abolish the country’s Desovietisation and Denazification Commission, LRT reports. Under the plan, responsibility for removing Soviet-era names and monuments would revert to municipalities. Homeland Union argued that the proposal would halt Lithuania’s decommunisation process, making Lithuania more…
