Several hundred people protested outside the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, on 2 October 2025 against a proposal for Latvia to withdraw from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, LSM reports. The convention aims to prevent and combat violence against women and domestic violence. MPs from opposition parties and the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS),…
The Latvian government will need to borrow EUR 3.8bn on international financial markets in 2026 and EUR 4.3bn in 2027, according to Janis Rozenbergs, deputy manager of the State Treasury, LETA reports. He told the budget and finance committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, that the government needed around EUR 2bn per year to…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has proposed amendments to simplify the procedure to initiate public referendums, LETA reports. He proposed halving the number of signatures needed to 5% of those who took part in the last parliamentary election and shortening the time to collect signatures to six months. If the 5% threshold is met, the Central…
Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics plans to propose lowering the threshold for holding public referendums on legislative changes, LSM reports. Rinkevics discussed the issue with Prime Minister Evika Silina and leaders of parliamentary groups, LETA reported. He will invite constitutional experts to join the discussions. Edmunds Jurevics, leader of New Unity’s parliamentary group, and Harijs Rokpelnis,…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed in final reading amendments further limiting alcohol sales and advertising as of 1 August 2025, LSM reports. Under the amendments, the sale of alcoholic beverages will be permitted from 10am to 8pm on Monday to Saturday and from 10am to 6pm on Sunday, thus reducing the availability of…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved the state budget for 2025, LSM reports. The budget foresees revenues of EUR 18.4bn, while expenditure is planned at EUR 19.7bn. The estimated budget deficit will thus amount to EUR 1.3bn or 2.9% of the GDP. The key budget priorities are internal and external security and competitiveness. The…
The Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has passed in final reading a new tax on local credit institutions, LETA reports. Under the new law, credit institutions registered in Latvia and branches of foreign credit institutions will have to make quarterly solidarity contributions for the next three years. The tax will amount to 60% of their excess…
The defence committee of the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, has approved President Edgars Rinkevics’s nomination of Brigade General Kaspars Pudans as the next commander of the Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS), LETA reports. Pudans emphasised the need to develop Latvia’s defence capabilities further. Currently, Pudans serves as commander of the Latvian National Guard (LRZS). He…
A public petition in Latvia is collecting signatures to restrict or ban US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s social media platform, X (former Twitter), in Latvia, BNS reports. The author of the legislative initiative, Gvido Grava, notes that an increasing volume of disinformation is being spread on X. He points out that X fails to comply with…