The European Commission’s latest rule of law report urges Estonia to adopt legislation to improve the regulation of political party financing, BNS reports. The report raises concern that there are no transparent and objective rules on the financing of civil society organisations by the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, from the state budget. Also, the report…
Latvia is likely to have a new three-party coalition government consisting of Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins’s New Unity and two current opposition parties, the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) and the Progressives, in August 2023, Ilona Berzina writes for Baltic News Network. Previously, Karins had assured that New Unity would not cooperate with ZZS…
Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins (New Unity) plans to clarify the future of the current ruling coalition by the middle of August 2023, before the start of next year’s budget talks, LSM reports. Karins said that summer was a “time of silence,” and that he would use the time to ascertain whether the coalition government…
Latvia’s New Unity and the combined faction of Movement For and Progressives (PP) will continue talks on possible future cooperation in the Riga City Council on 11 July 2023, Baltic News Network reports. A spokesman for the PP faction said that the group was not interested in snap elections, but in “returning to good management…
The chairman of the Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond), Jüri Ratas, announced that he would not seek reelection, ERR reports. Ratas has been chairman of the opposition party since 2016. The party’s deputy chairman, Tallinn mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, said that he was ready to run for the post of chairman. Meanwhile, several senior members of the…
The Estonian Centre Party (Keskerakond) has a rift in its leadership, party chairman Jüri Ratas stated, BNS reports. Earlier, the party’s governing board voted to return a donation of EUR 300,000 from local businessman Parvel Pruunsild. Ratas had insisted that the donation would have helped the party finance its operations. However, the party’s deputy chairman,…
There is growing momentum within Lithuania’s ruling coalition to initiate an impeachment procedure in the parliament, the Seimas, against MP Remigijus Zemaitaitis due to his repeated antisemitic remarks, ELTA reports. The ruling parties are also preparing a joint statement to condemn Zemaitaitis’s actions, with hopes that opposition groups in the parliament will join the initiative….
The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, is working on a "national agreement" to address the issue of a declining population, LRT reports. Currently, one in three households in Lithuania consists of single individuals living alone, which has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. This trend includes both seniors, particularly women due to a significant gender…
A motion of no confidence in the current tripartite ruling coalition in Estonia’s Paide municipal council won the majority of votes, DELFI reports. Altogether 13 out of 23 councillors voted for the motion presented by Priit Värk, chairman of the New Paide electoral alliance. The coalition of Paide People’s City, Estonian Reform Party, and Estonian…
