Tag: Latvia

Centre-right Latvian parties began talks yesterday (18 September) on a new coalition, aiming to block a pro-Russian party which gained the most votes in an election for the first time since the Baltic country won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Latvia is heading for early general elections on 17 September after its citizens overwhelmingly voted to dissolve parliament in a referendum aimed at cleaning up politics from corruption.

One year after the establishment of Europe's first 'macro-region', which brings together 10 countries nested around the Baltic Sea, a number of positive results can already be seen, according to Johannes Hahn, the European commissioner in charge of regional policy.

Latvia holds its first election tomorrow (2 October) since a severe economic crisis and the vote could determine whether the Baltic state sticks firmly to its IMF-led programme of austerity measures and eventual euro entry in 2014.

The Brussels miniature park ‘Mini-Europe’ will this Sunday (23 August) organise an event commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the “Baltic Way”, the longest ever human chain which in 1989 became a potent symbol in the independence struggle of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the then Soviet Union.

This week, nine of the EU's 27 member states are due to hold domestic votes at the same time as the European Parliament poll, including in three of the EU's largest countries. While critics allege that twinning elections confuses European issues, defenders argue that it should increase voter turnout.

While Latvian President Valdis Zatlers was addressing a European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg yesterday (13 January), protests about the worsening economic situation, which gathered thousands back home in the capital, Riga, degenerated into riots.

A group of Eastern European countries, led by Hungary, have asked for a revision of their national targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. EurActiv reveals the details of their alternative proposal.

Assessing the last group of convergence programmes on 7 March 2007, the Commission has urged Bulgaria and Romania to continue with sound fiscal policies.

Latvia is bracing itself to host NATO's 2006 summit. It will be the most major political event the country has ever staged.

Cyprus, Latvia and Malta became members of the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) as from 2 May. Their target date to join the euro is 2007.

In line with the EU's demands, Russia has agreed to work toward resolving its outstanding border disputes with Estonia and Latvia.

Green Party leader Indulis Emsis has been approved by the Latvian Parliament as prime minister heading a centre-right minority coalition.

The EU's next budget should concentrate on what offers added value for competition and integration between old and new Member States says Sandra Kalniete, Latvian Commissioner nominee, in an exclusive interview with EurActiv. She would welcome a Commission president from a new Member State.

The last of nine countries to hold a referendum on joining the European Union voted decisively pro-Europe. Ethnic Russians who didn't get to vote are appealing the results.

More than two thirds of Latvian voters have endorsed their country's membership of the EU, paving the way for the biggest enlargement in the Union's history.

Latvia's general elections on 5 October focus on corruption rather than EU and NATO accession which are taken for granted by voters.

The EU praised Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania for their progress in enlargement negotiations and preparations for EU membership at the Association Council of 19 February.

The Commission initialled agreements on trade facilitation with Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Latvia which extend the advantages of the Community's single market in industrial goods to applicant countries.