Latvia’s Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) issued 19,900 temporary residence permits to non-EU nationals who invested in the Latvian economy in the period from 1 July 2010 to the end of 2024, LETA reported. According to the Ministry of Economy, the so-called golden visa programme was “an important instrument” for attracting foreign capital…
Latvia’s Competition Council concluded seven high-priority cases on violations of and non-compliance with competition law in 2025, LSM reports. Total fines issued in the cases amounted to EUR 2.5mn, according to the council’s annual report. The public benefit increased by around 25% over a year, the Competition Council estimated. The biggest sanctions included a EUR…
The Council of Europe’s advisory body on constitutional law, the Venice Commission, is warning Lithuania against legislation that could appear to target the current top management of the country’s public broadcaster, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), BNS reports. The commission recommended that planned new rules on dismissing LRT’s director general only apply to office…
The Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has passed amendments that will make it easier to bring skilled and qualified foreign labour into the country, ERR reports. Temporary residence permits for work will be issued under more favourable conditions in sectors deemed suffering from labour shortage, and the maximum number of permits in those sectors will be…
The mayor of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, has launched a signature campaign for legislation that would oblige foreigners living temporarily in the country to learn Lithuanian, BNS reports. Under the mayor’s proposal, non-EU nationals would have to show proof of at least A2-level proficiency in Lithuanian when renewing their temporary residence permits after…
The Latvian government is considering a windfall tax on fuel retailers, LETA reports. Under the proposal, fuel retailers would have to pay a solidarity tax if their actual retail price was more than 3% higher than the objectively calculated indicative retail price. Earlier, the government lowered the excise duty on diesel fuel temporarily until 30…
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…
The Lithuanian government is pressing ahead with legislative proposals that would impose political control over the country’s public broadcaster, Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), LRT reports. Earlier, opposition MPs as well as representatives of the Lithuanian Association of Professional Journalists (ZPA) and LRT staff withdrew in protest from a parliamentary working group set up…
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has proposed a draft law that would allow the government to set maximum consumer prices on petrol and diesel fuel by decree, ELTA reports. Under the law, the Energy Ministry would calculate and proclaim the daily fuel price cap under a specific formula. Retailers failing to comply with the price cap…