Latvia’s Interior Minister, Janis Dombrava, has called for an internal investigation of State Police chief Armands Ruks, LSM reports. Earlier, an off-duty police officer killed a man in Priekule and another police officer caused a road traffic accident near Aizkraukle, both while severely intoxicated, LETA and LSM reported. Speaking in an interview with TV3, Dombrava…
The Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has approved amendments allowing prisoners from other countries to be housed in Estonian prisons, ERR reported. At the same time, the parliament ratified a prison leasing agreement with Sweden. Earlier, the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, ratified the agreement, ERR reported. Under the deal, Sweden can send up to 600 adult…
Opposition parties in Latvia have seized on culturally divisive issues to garner support ahead of the parliamentary elections in October 2026, New Eastern Europe reports. Earlier, the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, voted to withdraw from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women. Opposition parties claim that the human rights treaty is…
Estonia’s Minister of Economy and Industry, Erkki Keldo, has approved a national action plan to broaden equal opportunities and protections for LGBTIQ people, ERR reports. The plan sets goals to ensure that everyone in Estonia has equal opportunity to live a full, supported, and inclusive life, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or…
Latvia’s Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) has called on its coalition partner, New Unity, to support withdrawing from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women and domestic violence, LETA reports. ZZS argued that a case of alleged inappropriate behaviour by a foreign worker towards a minor in Liepaja demonstrated that…
Latvia’s ruling coalition has failed to secure a quorum in the parliament, the Saeima, for two weeks during votes on contested bills, LETA reports. On 2 October 2025, opposition parties again broke the quorum to preempt a final vote on transposing EU directives on emission trading systems into national law. Only 48 out of 100…
Over 7,700 people in Latvia have signed a public petition against withdrawing from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence, LSM reports. Earlier, several parties in the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, signalled that they might vote to revoke Latvia’s ratification of the human rights treaty. The Union of Greens…
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 has confirmed the appointment of Armands Ruks for another five-year term as chief of the Latvian State Police until October 2030, LSM reports. Ruks was first appointed to the post in October 2020. He said that his priorities in his second term of office would be to build police capacity, combat violence,…
