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Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman: Saeima Can Help Shape Foreign Policy
By admin at 17 April, 2012, 5:25 pm
Ojārs Kalniņš, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima, when asked to evaluate the work of his Committee during the winter session of the parliament, affirmed that members of the Saeima can influence foreign policy through interparliamentary contacts, as attested by success in defending Latvia’s interests with regard to the European Union’s (EU) [...]
Read More >>Defense Ministry Soon to Present 20-Year Development Plan for Armed Forces
By admin at 11 April, 2012, 5:18 pm
The Latvian Defense Ministry soon plans to submit a 20-year development plan for the National Armed Forces (NAF), said the ministry’s state secretary Jānis Sārts. He confirmed that the government during the closed part of its meeting supported the State Defense Policy. The document still has to be supported by the parliament. “As soon as [...]
Read More >>PM: Unemployment Rate in Latvia to Drop to One-Digit Figure in Summer
By admin at 11 April, 2012, 5:16 pm
Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis believes that unemployment rate in Latvia will drop to one-digit figure already this summer. “I believe that in the summer we will reach an unemployment level of one-digit figure,” Dombrovskis told the press after his meeting with Latvian President Andris Bērziņš on Wednesday. He also said that Latvian residents are [...]
Read More >>Number of Foreign Tourists Visiting Latvia in 2011 Grows 10%
By admin at 11 April, 2012, 5:15 pm
Foreign travelers visiting Latvia crossed the state border 5.538 million times in 2011, which is a growth by 10 percent from 2010, the national statistics office reported. The statistics office said that the number of foreign tourists has risen thanks to the marketing activities of the tourism sector. Most of the foreigners visiting Latvia in [...]
Read More >>Croatian, Latvian Presidents Emphasize Outstanding Bilateral Relations
By admin at 11 April, 2012, 5:13 pm
Croatian President Ivo Josipović is on a state visit to Latvia today, and he met at the Rīga Castle with President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš. The official delegations of the two countries engaged in discussions to talk about the bilateral relationship between the two nations, their partnership in international organizations and at the regional level, [...]
Read More >>Latvia’s Bailed-Out Parex Bank to be Renamed Reverta
By admin at 3 April, 2012, 10:08 am
The new name of Latvia’s bailed-out Parex Bank will be Reverta, Parex Bank’s CEO Christopher Gwilliam told the press on Wednesday. He said that the new brand name had been chosen based on the Latin word ‘reverto’ which meant „a return” in the broadest sense of the word. „We chose Return as the main symbol [...]
Read More >>Latvian Budget Shows EUR 19.7 Million Surplus in Jan-Feb
By admin at 3 April, 2012, 10:06 am
During the first two months of 2012, the Latvian general government consolidated budget accumulated a 13.9 million lats (EUR 19.7 million) surplus, BNS was told at the Finance Ministry. During the first two months of this year, revenue in the general government consolidated budget reached 831.2 million lats, while expenditure totaled 817.3 million lats, resulting [...]
Read More >>Latvian Retail Sales in Jan-Feb Rise 12.6% Year-On-Year
By admin at 3 April, 2012, 10:05 am
In January-February 2012, Latvian retail companies raised their sales by 12.6 percent from the same period last year in constant prices based in the calendar-adjusted data, the national statistics office reported. In the first two months of this year food retailers saw their sales rise 4.4 percent against the same period in 2011, while sales [...]
Read More >>Latvian MPs Anticipate Tough Debate on Controversial Amendments to Pension Law
By admin at 3 April, 2012, 10:04 am
Representatives of the factions in the Latvian parliament anticipate a tough debate which might even grow into a war on the controversial amendments to the pension law upheld by the government and providing for the increase of pension age, starting from 2014. Dzintars Zaķis, the chairman of the parliamentary faction of the ruling center-right Unity [...]
Read More >>Parliament Rejects Amendments That Would Require Electing President in Open Vote
By admin at 3 April, 2012, 10:01 am
The Latvian parliament on Thursday rejected in the first reading legislative amendments that would require electing the president of Latvia and Constitutional Court judges in an open vote and would restrict lawmakers’ immunity. The draft amendments to the Latvian Constitution need two thirds of votes to pass in parliament. Of the 85 MPs participating in [...]
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