European Council President Donald Tusk stated last week that the European Union will extend its existing economic sanctions on Russia this month. This decision is to be taken at a summit of EU leaders on Dec. 13-14. The EU measures against Russia’s defense, energy and banking sectors should become another “punishment” for Moscow’s role in the turmoil in Ukraine and the naval skirmish in the Sea of Azov. Though at…
Posts published in Day: December 3, 2018
President formally green lights election, advises level-headed voting
Monday, December 3, 2018President Kersti Kaljulaid signed into action the go ahead for the general election in Estonia, due on 3 March 2019. Whilst the date of 3 March has long been talked about, according to § 78 (3) of the Estonian constitution, the president ”calls regular elections of the Riigikogu..” (official English translation), so the move was necessary to make the date official. The deadline for so doing was Sunday, 2 December. Ms…
The President extended condolences on the passing of George Bush Senior
Monday, December 3, 2018President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended condolences on the passing of the 41st President of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush. Dalia Grybauskaitė underlined that Lithuania had felt the President’s strong shoulder at the dawn of its independence and would always remember him as a true friend. He was a highly principled politician who saw the commitment to protect freedom and security as his ultimate duty. “Having gone through the trials…
What happens to your life after you accidentally kill someone?
By David Peters on Monday, December 3, 2018I’m an accidental killer – and thousands of Americans share this secret shame. How can you recover from the trauma of accidentally killing someone? “There’s never a time, even when I’m laughing at a party, when I’m not thinking about it,” Pam Uhr says. It was a hot summer day a few weeks before the end of her junior year of high school. Uhr and her friends had spent the…
PM speaks out against wider effects of physical confrontation in politics
Monday, December 3, 2018The recent unrest and scuffling that marred Monday’s Riigikogu vote on the UN Global Migration Compact are quite un-Estonian, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre) has explained. Speaking on a video recorded in his office and posted on his social media account, Mr Ratas said he hoped that those involved would find it in their hearts to repent of their actions, and expressed his disappointment that the incident, which arose during…
President and prime minister top daily list of 2018 influential people in Estonia
Monday, December 3, 2018Daily Eesti Päevaleht (EPL) has place Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre) and President Kersti Kaljulaid in the first and second places of its list of the most influential persons in Estonia for 2018. ”As this time last year, he is prime minister,” the newspaper commented on Mr Ratas selection for the top spot. ”He is master of his party even more so than this time last year,” the newspaper continued,…
Week in Lithuania. Government set to raise teachers’ pay only in 2020
Monday, December 3, 2018Lithuania’s government on Thursday, November 29, proposed to trade unions that an agreement of political parties on raising teachers’ pay should be signed. But due to failure to make any decision on teachers’ salaries, the negotiations at the Ministry of Education and Science were postponed. Members of the Lithuanian Education Employees Trade Union, led by Andrius Navickas, say such proposals are unacceptable and demand that pay coefficients be raised by…
Lithuania’s GDP grows 2.9% in Q3 y-o-y
Monday, December 3, 2018Statistics Lithuania informs that based on more comprehensive business, tax and price statistics, in III quarter 2018, country’s gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices amounted to EUR 12.0 bn. Compared to II quarter 2018, the real GDP change1 was negative and stood at -0.3%, while compared to the respective quarter 2017, GDP increased by 2.9%. Seasonally and calendar unadjusted, GDP growth stood at 8.1 and 2.4% respectively. As for…
Brexit: the time has come to back the withdrawal deal
Monday, December 3, 2018Parliament debated the UK’s withdrawal from the EU with EU Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Thursday. Commenting on the conclusions of the Extraordinary European Council of 25 November, where heads of state or government backed the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the political declaration regarding future relations with the UK, members of the European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group underlined the gravity of the moment. The Withdrawal agreement is the “only…
Security clearance cannot be granted automatically – Vejonis
Monday, December 3, 2018Security clearance for access to state secrets cannot be granted automatically, said Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis. The president’s chancellery reported that Vejonis is confident that Latvian legislation ensures the necessary balance between state security and democracy in granting security clearance. “It is in the interest of state security and democracy to vet person’s compatibility for access to state secrets with the aim to protect state secrets and public interests, therefore…