Contents tagged with Latvia
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Kremlin: NATO is redeploying troops to the borders with Russia
NATO is returning to the transatlantic redeployment of troops to Europe that existed during the Cold War in order to strengthen the coalition forces on the border with Russia, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Mikhail Popov said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.
“The system of transatlantic reinforcement forces from the United States and Canada to Europe that existed during the years of the Cold War is being reanimated for the deployment of large coalition …
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Latvia builds a 93 km fence on the border with Russia
The news outlet f Delfi reports that Latvia has completed the construction of a 93-kilometer stretch of barbed wire fence on the border with Russia.
The construction project includes a fence with a length of 193.6 km, and also wooden footpaths, patrol booths, and culverts. The height of the fence is 2.7 meters, and the total cost of construction is 21.168 million euros.
As of December 31, 2018, 207 km of border zone was equipped and 93 km of the fence. The entire border zone is expected to be …
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New NATO headquarters opened in Latvia
The press service of the Latvian Ministry of Defense announced that Latvia, Estonia and Denmark opened the Northern Division headquarters for the multinational troops in Adazi near Riga.
The main task of the Northern Division will be the management of military operations in its area of responsibility. The new headquarters will begin planning and managing military operations, as well as planning and integrating the NATO units’ activities in order to strengthen the security of the region and …
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Latvia intends to spend additional 60 million euros on defense in 2019
Delfi reports that the Latvian government approved a state budget bill for 2019 that has been submitted for further approval to the Saeima.
According to the bill, the revenues in general consolidated budget in the current year are estimated at 9.2 billion euros and expenditures at 9.4 billion euros. Revenues to the core budget are expected to reach 6.4 billion euros and expenditures at 6.8 billion euros. Revenues to the special budget are planned to be at 3 billion euros and expenditures at 2.8 …
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Finland, Estonia, and Latvia agree to establish regional gas market
The Estonian state-owned company Elering AS, which operates electrical and gas networks, stated that an agreement was signed with the energy companies of Finland and Latvia to the establishment of a Finnish-Estonian-Latvian gas market beginning 2020, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
It is noted that this agreement allows for a single gas tariff for gas transit between these countries and eliminates cross-border charges which means that next year gas will flow between Finland, Estonia, and Latvia at …
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USA deploys more than a dozen combat helicopters in Latvia
As part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, thirteen UH-60 Black Hawk and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters have been deployed in Latvia to strengthen security in the region, reported the Latvian Defense Ministry. The helicopters were deployed at a National Armed Forces airbase in Lielvārde.
Also, about 150 US military serving in the 3rd Battalion of the First Aviation Brigade have arrived in the country for 9 months rotation. The US personnel will maintain the helicopters and will train the Latvians …
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Latvia bans broadcasts of channel RTR-Russia for inciting hatred towards Ukrainians
The National Electronic Mass Media Council of Latvia or NEPLP has restricted the Russian television channel RTR-Russia from broadcasting in the country for three months. As Latvian news agency Leta reports, Latvian authorities found incitement to hatred toward Ukrainians was found in their programs.
The agency found hate speech against the Ukrainian government in the program “Evening with Vladimir Solovyov” dated May 22. In the program “60 Minutes” aired on January 11, 2018, the leader of the …
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Latvia detects Russian reconnaissance ship in its territorial waters
The Latvian National Armed Forces reported on Twitter that a Russian reconnaissance ship was spotted in the exclusive economic zone of Latvia. “On December 25, we found the Russian reconnaissance ship named Yuri Ivanov in the exclusive economic zone of Latvia at six nautical miles from the border.”
Russian warships and aircraft have been increasingly seen and recorded close to the air and sea borders of the Baltic States since the start of the conflict in Ukraine and the aggravation of …
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Russian money-laundering scandal puts Latvia on verge of financial catastrophe
After becoming one of the primary “laundromats” for laundering shady capital from Russia, the Latvian banking system is now facing the threat of international isolation.
Due the scandal surrounding the country’s second largest bank, ABLV, which was caught transferring billions of dollars from Russia and former Soviet states into offshore accounts, Latvia risks being blacklisted by the FATF, observed the US ambassador to the country, Andris Teikmanis.
This blacklist includes governments that …
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Latvia publishes list of KGB agents
On December 20th, The National Archives of Latvia opened access to the KGB archives containing lists of agents of the Soviet special services.
The files in PDF format can be found at kgb.arhivi.lv.
The files of KGB agents in the Latvian USSR (a total of 10,612 files) have been published in alphabetical order. The archive includes the names of both active agents in the late 1980s and the excluded ones.
In this archive, there is also general information, which was entered by the First …