The Earth Times Online Newspaper (Free subscription) | 06/08/2008
Riga - Latvian President Valdis Zatlers urged parliament on Wednesday to change the constitution to grant voters a right to call snap elections. To quickly and successfully solve parliamentary and state crises, the constitution has to allow a right ...
Baltic Times (Free subscription) | 03/07/2008
RIGA - Nearly a year after he first tried to hound him out of his job, it was appropriate that Aigars Kalvitis was called upon to deliver the coup de grace to Aleksejs Loskutovs, head of KNAB, Latvia’s anti-corruption bureau. It was no coincidence that the decisive vote was postponed until former P
The Earth Times Online Newspaper (Free subscription) | 29/06/2008
Riga - The Latvian parliament on Sunday fired the head of the Baltic nation's anti-corruption agency. The parliament voted 52-40 to fire Aleksejs Loskutovs. ...
Edward Lucas (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Europe.view The Latvian puzzle Jun 5th 2008 From Economist.com Strong institutions and weak politics make a rum mixture Get article background LOOK just at the politics, and it is easy to be concerned about Latvia. Under the previous prime minister, Aigars Kalvitis, the government seemed particularly set on cosying up to Russia and castrating troublesome public bodies. “Government depends on business...
The Economist (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Strong institutions and weak politics make a rum mixture LOOK just at the politics, and it is easy to be concerned about Latvia. Under the previous prime minister, Aigars Kalvitis, the government seemed particularly set on cosying up to Russia and castrating troublesome public bodies. ?Government depends on business and business depends on Russia? seemed to be Latvia's philosophy in a nutshell. That...
The Earth Times Online Newspaper (Free subscription) | 12/05/2008
Riga - Fuelled by Russian gas money, a new ice hockey club is the latest sign for some Latvians that Russia is exerting more influence in the Baltic nation. Dinamo Riga will compete against mostly Russian teams in the new Continental Hockey League, t...
Baltic Times (Free subscription) | 01/05/2008
Former Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis lashed out at the chief prosecutor over the latter’s inability to foresee a recent scandal in the anti-corruption bureau involving a large sum of stolen cash. “We ordered [the Prosecutor’s Office] to perform the probe. By law it is their duty to control the op
Baltic Times (Free subscription) | 24/04/2008
RIGA - Former Latvian Prime Minister is calling for the head of Prosecutor General Janis Maizitis concerning the case of missing money from Latvian Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB). Kalvitis believes that Maizitis has to assume responsibility for the incident and sees the wh
Financial Time (Free subscription) | 14/04/2008
Latvia has agreed to give TeliaSonera, the Nordic telecommunications group, full ownership of LMT
Business Week (Free subscription) | 06/03/2008
Charges of corruption and oligarchy plague the Latvian business scene. Also recalling Russia in the 1990s: two recent murders
Marginalia (Free subscription) | 25/02/2008
There's a cute Facebook group called Dictators Who Kiss Children in Front of Cameras. Jānis Bērziņš at Reveries has a verbal gold watch for Fidel . In that spirit, I invite you to view an argument about every Latvian's favorite dictator, Kārlis Ulmanis (the photo above -- why does a democracy erect a monument to a dictator in the center of its capital? -- is by Gatis Dieziņš [AFI]). An excerpt: Some...
Business Week (Free subscription) | 11/01/2008
With their country on the verge of an economic downturn, Latvians prepare for a bumpy ride as a prime minister from leaner years, Ivars Godmanis, returns
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Free subscription) | 20/12/2007
RIGA, Latvia -- Latvian lawmakers approved a new center-right government Thursday that will face an uphill battle to restore popular trust and prevent the country's red-hot economy from abruptly reversing course.
Baltic Times (Free subscription) | 20/12/2007
For a freshman president with no political experience, Valdis Zatlers has performed admirably in the first six months in office. Partisan intrigue and popular discontent have tested the former surgeon's abilities – and those of his advisers – to the full, and it is pleasing to see that the man many
Baltic Times (Free subscription) | 20/12/2007
RIGA - President Valdis Zatlers nominated outgoing Interior Minister Ivars Godmanis to the prime minister’s post on Dec. 14, charging him with the formation of a new coalition that, in the president's words, should work to restore trust in the government. Latvia has been without a head of governme
