Tag Archives: Latvia

Politico Europe reports: EU countries bordering Russia were on alert Saturday, with some beefing up their border security, after the Wagner paramilitary group seized control of a strategic Russian city and threatened to move on Moscow. Estonia and Latvia have stepped up their border security in response, according to the countries’ governments, while Latvia suspended visa applications and entry to …

Bloomberg News reports: Latvia’s parliament elected long-time Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics as the Baltic nation’s new president, making him the European Union’s first openly gay head of state. Fifty-two lawmakers in the 100-seat legislature in Riga voted for Rinkevics, who has served as Latvia’s top envoy for almost 12 years, to succeed President Egils Levits. Rinkevics has been a consistent …

NPR reports: President Trump meets at the White House on Tuesday with leaders of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The “U.S.-Baltic Summit” celebrates the 100th anniversary of independence for the three countries. Throughout the Second World War and the Cold War, the Baltic countries were dominated by the Soviet Union. They regained their independence in the early 1990s and joined NATO …

EuroPride 2015 takes places this weekend in Riga, Latvia and Amnesty International is calling on the government to protect attendees from the violence that has marred earlier local pride events. Latvian President Andris Berzins has denounced EuroPride, saying that “homosexuality should not be advertised and imposed.” “It is disturbing to see the Latvian government’s evident discomfort at hosting EuroPride. Instead …

Gay Star News reports: A group of  “no-homo” activists is trying to kill off EuroPride 2015, due to be held in Riga, Latvia. Calling themselves “Anti-Globalists” (Antiglobālisti), the homophobic activists appear to have found a way to ensure the Pride event for Europe will not happen on its scheduled date of 20 June and may not happen at all. When …

Via the Washington Post: Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics announced Thursday that he was gay, breaking a barrier in Eastern Europe’s socially conservative political arena. The declaration, made via a cheerful Twitter posting, immediately gave gay rights advocates a prominent voice in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. The region — where openly gay public figures are a rarity — has significantly lagged …

In recent years the Eurovision entries have trended towards boring English-language power ballads or forgettable EDM stompers and away from the glitzy, over the top schlock-dramas that made the contest so deliriously silly.  But this year, as we’ve already seen from Malta, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, there is a strange move to folksy, bluegrass-y, acoustic Up With People happy-clappers.  Add …