Latvia
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Latvia: Stateless Russians seek identity
15 May 20131353 Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius -
Latvia: Cypriot crisis is a boon for “Switzerland of the Baltic”
26 March 20131227PresseuropHospodářské Noviny -
Baltic: Chemical threat lurking beneath the sea
26 March 201380213 Uważam Rze Warsaw -
Article: On the road to the euro
20 February 20139614 IQ The Economist Vilnius -
Latvia: ‘Euro obligations completed’
1 February 2013341PresseuropDiena -
The front page: 5 June 2012
5 June 201228PresseuropExpansión, Svenska Dagbladet, Handelsblatt & 4 others -
Eastern Europe: Fall-out amongst Baltic neighbours
17 April 20121644 Veidas Vilnius -
Eurozone crisis: The great European fire sale
21 February 201250857 The Independent London -
The front page: 20 February 2012
20 February 201221PresseuropLa Libre Belgique, I Kathimerini, Frankfurter Rundschau & 4 others -
Latvia: Russian, an official EU language?
17 February 201213610 Postimees Tallinn -
Banks: The crash that has rocked Lithuania
25 November 2011PresseuropVeidas -
Debate: Refuseniks and problem cases of the non-eurozone
10 November 20116415 Respekt Prague -
Railways: Greater European network on track
20 October 2011PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
Economic crisis: Youthful members of the full-time precariat
15 September 20119664 Polityka Warsaw -
1991-2011: A Baltic triumph
19 August 2011143 IQ The Economist Vilnius -
Romania: A Marshall plan for crisis-hit countries
9 August 20111PresseuropAdevărul -
INTERVIEW: Paolo Rumiz: “The heart of Europe beats in the East”
5 August 2011PresseuropBlog -
Poland: Mini-Marshall Plan “unfair and divisive”
2 August 20111PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Latvia: Corruption and dissolution
30 May 2011PresseuropDiena -
European Union: Patient doing better than expected
2 May 2011733 Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Labour market: Work in Germany? Yes, maybe
29 April 20111571 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Frankfurt -
Central Europe: The wilted charms of the euro
4 April 201172 Presseurop -
Two towns in Europe: Valka-Valga, two sides to the story
16 February 201189 Postimees Tallinn -
Baltic states: Where minorities must hold their tongue
6 January 2011814 De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Baltic states: Following Estonia’s lead
13 December 201070 Atgimimas Vilnius -
Portugal: Half a million working poor
2 December 2010PresseuropJornal de Notícias -
Austerity: Pity the poor civil servant
27 October 2010129 Il Foglio Milan -
Stability pact: That figures
18 August 2010PresseuropPúblico -
Fires: The ghost of Chernobyl again floating over Europe
12 August 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
European of the Week : Ilmars Poikans, Latvian cyber-avenger
21 May 2010578 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Baltic states and the crisis (2): Latvia, from boom to bust
19 April 2010661 The Independent London -
Baltic states and the crisis (1): Running for the euro
14 April 201017 Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Warsaw -
Journalism: The incredible shrinking E.U. press corps
2 April 2010544 The New York Times New York -
University: Schools feel cost of crisis
30 March 201043 Adevărul Bucharest -
Crisis: Farewell to fixed incomes
12 March 20102 Il Sole-24 Ore Milan -
Single currency: Euro, go east!
18 February 2010231 Handelsblatt Düsseldorf -
Baltic Sea: The big cleanup begins
11 February 2010PresseuropHelsingin Sanomat -
Editorial: Heroine seeks happy ending
22 January 20102Presseurop -
Central and Eastern Europe: World Bank's forsees debt gloom
4 December 2009PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
EU-Russia: Sweden pushed onto Baltic chessboard
18 November 2009PresseuropSvenska Dagbladet -
Gas: Gazprom makes offers no-one refuses
12 November 200942 Polska The Times Warsaw -
Gas: Green light for Nord Stream
6 November 2009PresseuropDagens Nyheter -
Financial crisis: Save Iceland from the slippery slope
31 August 2009PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
History: Condemning totalitarianism of all colours
21 August 200911 Revista 22 Bucharest -
Turkey: Go East
19 August 2009The Guardian London -
Crisis: Iceland squeezed like a lemon
17 August 2009Financial Times London -
Regional cooperation: Baltic Blues
17 August 2009Polityka Warsaw -
Financial Crisis: Surprising change for developing countries
13 August 2009PresseuropCapital -
Central and Eastern Europe: Lean years are back
12 August 200913 Gandul Bucharest -
Czech Republic: Roma reality show ends in Prague
4 August 2009PresseuropMladá Fronta DNES
Ever since Latvia gained independence with the dissolution of the USSR, the status of the Russian minority has remained a divisive issue. Following a referendum on the use of the Russian language, today the focus of debate is on the question of citizenship. 
Thousands of tonnes of chemical weapons sunk in the Baltic Sea after WWII pose a lethal hazard to humans and the environment. After 70 years at the bottom of the sea, the corroded containers risk leaking deadly poisons, warns a Polish journalist. 
On January 1, 2014, Latvia will become the 18th country in Europe to use the single currency. It is a decision most Latvians would not have made, and it comes with significant risks. 
Historically linked by a common destiny, and often mistaken for one another, the national interests of the three small former Soviet states can, on occasion, come into conflict. Today the influence of Scandinavia has proved to be a force that is bringing them together. 
All over Europe, nations are looking for a quick way to raise cash. All of them seem to have the same idea - to sell off state assets. 
Latvians will vote, on February 18, on whether to grant Russian the status of official second language. A legacy of the Soviet Era, this linguistic issue is divisive in a country that is seeking to forge a common identity. 
As the eurozone crisis deepens, the countries outside of it are trying to come up with ways not to lose control of their destinies inside the EU. 
The crisis has accelerated the emergence of a new social class in Europe. Dubbed "the precariat" by sociologists, it is made up of young people with no prospect of a decent job or a reasonable standard of living. 
In August 1991, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia declared their independence from a collapsing USSR. Despite a few hiccups along the way, twenty years on they have definitively turned the page on Communism and come back to their roots in Europe. 
Amid a virtual consensus that the current crisis has cast doubts over the future of the European Union, Polish columnist Jacek Pawlicki argues that the EU’s ability to adapt along with the contribution made by its more recent members will ensure its continued survival. 
On 1 May, the doors will open wide for Poles, Czechs and other eastern Europeans now free to work in Germany. But no one expects a stampede. Quite the opposite: German companies will have to woo the new guest workers ardently and assiduously. 
Europe’s sovereign debt crisis has dampened enthusiasm for the single currency in most of the countries of Central Europe. Today, only the Baltic States are still eager to join the Eurozone, writes "Rzeczpospolita".
A walk from Valka to Valga not only takes you from Lativa to Estonia, but you also have the impression of traveling from one era to another. Postimees reports on a quarrel between the old guard and the new in one of Europe’s far-flung border towns. 
The linguistic rights of the sizeable Russian and Polish minorities in the three former Soviet republics, which joined the EU in 2004, are hardly recognised. A Dutch journalist deplores governmental intransigence on the issue of languages. 
On 1st January, Estonia will become the first Baltic state to join the euro zone — a development which an Estonian political scientist believes will offer a strong motivation to neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania to follow in its footsteps and also encourage more cooperation between the three countries.
They used to have it made — nice easy work, good pensions and job security — but the swingeing cuts that have come with the crisis threaten to end forever the cushy life of Europe's fast-disappearing civil servants. 
For months he was Latvia’s cyber Robin Hood. After hacking into secret tax files, Ilmars Poikans, alias Neo, showed his compatriots how the country’s elite lined their pockets during the crisis. 
With the highest unemployment rate in the EU, the capitalist boom years for Latvia have gone, and many of its citizens are hankering for the grey certitudes of life under communism, reports The Independent. 
The worst is over for the Baltic States. For the first time since the beginning of the financial crisis, Moody's has upped its ratings outlooks for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia: a sign that the three republics will soon be able to join the eurozone.
Even as the EU gets more and more talked about, the Brussels press corps is dwindling. Nowhere is this phenomenon more marked than amongst journalists from the new member states of Central and Eastern Europe. 
The education sector in Europe has been hard hit by cuts in budgets, personnel and investment. Some universities, e.g. in the UK, might even have to be closed down. And some leading institutions could soon lose their top international rankings.
Battered by the economic crisis and drowning in deficits, several EU states have opted to cut public sector pay rather than devalue their currency. The choice is unpopular but not unprecedented, reports Il Sole 24 Ore. 
With its monetary union weakened by the crisis, the EU shouldn’t be afraid of enlarging the eurozone. Handelsblatt recommends rapidly integrating the more dynamic economies to the east, which have been scorned for too long as the weakest links in the system. 
Current or former heads of government, European commissioners, national energy company chiefs — in Brussels, the Russian energy giant has fielded a formidable team of lobbyists to defend its interests and projects, which are not always compatible with European initiatives. 
The 23rd August is "European Day of Rememberance for the Victims of Nazism and Stalinism", to condemn totalitarianism. A noble cause perhaps, but one which has provoked controversy in Russia, where Stalin is still a national hero. They point out that Russia in fact saved many lives threatened by Nazism. Yet the Russians remain cagey about their Soviet Union archives, a stumbling block for ex-Soviet states to really understand their totalitarian pasts. 
The EU rose out of the ashes of war. Perhaps, with a little patience and pragmatism, a Middle Eastern Union is not such a distant fantasy. And Turkey, as East-West linchpin, is well-placed to be that unifying force. 
Can Iceland and Latvia pay the foreign debts run up by a fairly small number of their population? The European Union and International Monetary Fund have told them to pay the debts with public money by raising taxes, slashing public spending and obliging citizens to deplete their savings. But a public backlash in these countries may force a compromise with their creditor nations, writes American economist Michael Hudson in the Financial Times. 
Several years ago, the Baltic became the EU’s internal sea. But what kind of a sea is it? A shallow, closed, poor, one that divides rather than connects. On economic as well as environmental issues, the future of the Baltic states is bound in cooperation with neighbouring countries and with the European Union. 
The financial crisis in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic states, which until recently were posting record growth rates, has forced governments to slash budgets, starting with public service salaries — and cabinet ministers are leading the way. - 1 of 2
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