The financial regulatory authorities of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries have conducted a financial crisis simulation exercise under the Nordic Baltic Stability Group framework, ERR reports. The exercise was aimed at testing preparedness for a potential crisis situation, including in communication, information sharing, and collaboration between the authorities. Around 450 participants representing Nordic, Baltic,…
Latvia’s State Revenue Service (VID) will contact 260 construction companies that are paying atypically low wages to their workers, LETA reports. Speaking in an interview with LTV, VID director general Baiba Smite-Roke noted that the companies were paying wages that were significantly lower than the average. The aim was to ascertain whether the companies were…
Latvia’s National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) has awarded free terrestrial TV broadcasting rights to Re MEDIA’s ReTV and 4.vara’s TV4 in 2025-2026, BNS reports. Re MEDIA’s owner is Jurgis Abele, while 4.vara’s owners are Sweden’s Silver Spring Media (79.99%), Kristaps Zalitis’s LZI (12.52%), and Arturs Vaskis’s AV Management (7.49%). NEPLP will announce a repeated…
Estonia’s state-owned postal services provider, Eesti Post, which operates under the Omniva brand, plans to raise the price of universal postal services by a third as of 1 January 2025, ERR reports. If the Estonian Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet) approves the rate hike, the postage price of a standard domestic letter will rise from current EUR…
The Russian and Chinese social media networks, Telegram and TikTok, are being used widely to spread content that poses risks to Latvia’s national security, according to the State Security Service (VDD), BNS reports. Unwanted content on the platforms includes disinformation, propaganda, and recruitment to criminal activity. Moreover, the platforms fail to monitor or delete such…
Estonia ranks among the world’s top nations in cyber security, according to the Global Cybersecurity Index of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union, BNS reports. The index assessed progress on digital security measures in terms of legal, organisational, technical, capacity-building, and cooperation efforts. The report pointed to Estonia’s robust cyber security legislation and regulation, effective organisational…
US technology company Google has removed altogether 18 Belarusian radio and TV channels from its YouTube video platform following a request from the Radio and Television Commission of Lithuania (LRTK), BNS reports. LRTK said that the accounts were directly linked to the Belarusian state broadcaster, Belteleradiocompany (BTRC), which is under EU sanctions. LRTK had made…
The social and labour affairs committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved amendments that would introduce stricter rules on workplace language requirements, LSM reports. The amendments aim to strengthen the role of the Latvian language in the labour market. Many employers in Latvia still require that staff speak Russian. The amendments stipulate that…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed in final reading amendments that ban vehicles registered in Belarus from Latvia, LETA reports. 77 MPs voted in favour of the amendments, while 9 voted against, LSM reported. Under the legislation, Belarusian vehicles need to be reregistered in Latvia or taken out of the country by 31 October…