Latvia

RIGA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins announced on Monday that he would resign amid differences with coalition partners.

Karins, who is the leader of the center-right New Unity, blamed the centrist United List and conservative National Alliance for thwarting attempts to improve the government's performance.

"A new government is needed," Karins told a press conference, adding that he would hand in his resignation to President Edgars Rinkevics on Thursday.

Karins also said that he would not seek reappointment as prime minister.

RIGA, May 8 (Reuters) - In a Stalinist skyscraper which dominates the skyline of Latvia's capital, dozens of elderly Russians wait to take a basic Latvian language test as a proof of loyalty to a country where they have lived for decades.

Clutching red Russian passports, the participants, mostly women, read their notes for last minute revision, fearing they may be expelled from the Baltic country if they fail.

April 22 (Reuters) - Russia said it was expelling a number of German diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. Germany did not immediately confirm any expulsions of its own, but said the arrival of a Russian government plane in Berlin was connected to the issue. Russia's RIA Novosti news agency said Germany had decided to expel more than 20 Russians.

TANKS, BATTLE

* Russia's Defence Ministry said Russian forces had captured three more blocks in the western part of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — The U.S. will conduct more military exercises with Baltic nations such as Latvia, and look to provide increased training, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday, saying the U.S. may bring in additional troops from America if needed to bolster the region against any possible threat from Russia.

LIELVARDE, Latvia, Feb 24 (Reuters) - About 20 U.S. Apache military attack helicopters landed at Lielvarde military airfield in Latvia on Thursday, hours after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

The arrival of the choppers was first announced last week, when it was billed as a participation to the bi-annual international U.S.-led exercise Saber Strike.

But on Thursday the Lithuanian defence minister was describing them as part of U.S. military reinforcements to the Baltic region after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

RIGA, January 11. /TASS/: The Latvian State Security Service jointly with the Defense Intelligence and Security Service (MIDD) has taken two individuals into custody on suspicion of spying for Russian military intelligence for a lengthy period of time, the LETA Latvian news agency reported on Tuesday.

RIGA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The United States urged Russia on Wednesday to pull back its troops from the Ukrainian border, warning that a Russian invasion would provoke sanctions that would hit Moscow harder than any imposed until now.

"We don't know whether President (Vladimir) Putin has made the decision to invade. We do know that he is putting in place the capacity to do so in on short order should he so decide," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

RIGA, November 30. /TASS/: NATO guarantees the collective security of its members but not partners like Ukraine, to whom the alliance provides support, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference upon arrival in Latvia’s capital of Riga for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

RIGA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Russia would pay a high price for any new military aggression against Ukraine, NATO and the United States warned on Tuesday as the Western military alliance met to discuss Moscow's intentions for massing troops on the border of the former Soviet republic.

The West has already shown that it can wield economic, financial and political sanctions against Moscow, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of talks of the alliance's foreign ministers in the Latvian capital Riga.

RIGA (Latvia), Nov 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The European Union needs to buy time to assess fully the implications of the new Omicron coronavirus variant and to prepare, notably by pushing for greater vaccination rates, the president of the European Commission said.

First discovered in South Africa, the variant has now been detected in EU countries Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, along with Australia, Botswana, Britain, Hong Kong and Israel.

Ursula Von der Leyen, speaking during a visit to Latvia, said she took the variant seriously.