Estonia’s opposition Fatherland (Isamaa) party and Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) have decided to end their filibustering in the parliament, the Riigikogu, for now, ERR reports. The two parties withdrew their numerous submitted amendments, saying that they were against obstructing parliamentary work. The opposition’s filibustering practically halted the Riigikogu’s spring and autumn sessions in 2023. In…
There will be no referendum against same-sex civil partnership in Latvia, LSM reports. A campaign to hold a popular referendum to suspend the publication of the new partnership law collected just some 15% of the around 155,000 signatures needed. The campaign, which was supported by the opposition United List, National Alliance, Latvia First, and For…
A delegation of 11 members of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, will visit Taiwan on 20-27 January 2024, BNS reports. Freedom Party MP Vytautas Mitalas said that the Lithuanian delegation would be the first to meet with Taiwan’s newly elected president, William Lai. Mitalas noted that the visit would help bring Lithuania and Taiwan closer. Meanwhile,…
The parliamentary group of Estonia’s opposition Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) will find it hard to recover from the exodus of MPs from the party, ERR’s Uku Toom estimates. The parliamentary group has dwindled from 26 MPs a year ago to just 7 today. The faction is therefore unlikely to have representatives in all parliamentary committees…
Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has denied rumours of a possible coalition reshuffle, ERR reports. Kallas dismissed suggestions that her Estonian Reform Party might consider removing Estonia 200 from the current three-party coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDE) if MPs from the opposition Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) join SDE. Kallas suspects that Urmas Reinsalu, leader…
Another six members of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, have resigned from the opposition Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond), and four of them joined the Social Democratic Party (SDE), which is part of the current coalition government, ERR reports. One of those leaving is Tanel Kiik, chairman of the Centre Party’s parliamentary group. Earlier, two of…
Estonia’s former prime minister and former chairman of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond), Jüri Ratas, expects more people to leave the opposition party, ERR reports. He said that the party’s new chairman, Tallinn’s Russian-speaking mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, has failed to ensure party unity, noting that most of those who have quit are Estonian-speakers. Earlier, two…
The Estonian opposition party, the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE), remains the country’s most popular party, according to a Norstat poll for the Institute of Societal Research (YI) conducted in October 2023, ERR reports. The survey showed that 23.2% of voters now support EKRE, followed by another conservative opposition party, Fatherland (Isamaa), with 20.2%….
Lithuania’s presidential campaign is gathering pace, Linas Jegelevicius reports for Baltic News Network. Incumbent president Gitanas Nauseda has the lead in several polls, and he is expected to run for a second term. The ruling Homeland Union has started the process to choose the party’s presidential candidate. Potential names include Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, Defence…