Latvia

One country with a keen interest in what’s happening in Ukraine is Latvia, which also borders Russia.

We spoke to Latvia’s foreign minister Edgars Rinkēvičs and began by asking him how concerned he is about the prospect of Russia invading Ukraine.

UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warns of the “real and present danger” of Russia trying to destabilise the Baltic states, and says Nato will be ready to respond. But is he right about the threat?

Police say ‘significant efforts’ were made to hide the body of missing schoolgirl Alice Gross in the River Brent, after she disappeared a month ago.

At least 50 people are killed after the roof of the Maxima supermarket collapses in Riga, the Latvian capital. A criminal investigation has been launched.

Police identify the body of the teenage girl found on the Queen’s Sandringham estate as Alisa Dmitrijeva from Latvia.

George Soros in today’s FT makes similar points to those raised in my posts on Africa (Zambia here and Tanzania coming later today), Latvia and Hungary about the need “to protect the periphery countries from a storm created in the developed world… the periphery countries will suffer even more than those at the centre”.

Europe seems to be moving into gear on the “Eastern Question” – how to stop the financial crisis in Latvia and Hungary from coming back to haunt us. EU finance ministers, meeting in Brussels ahead of a G20 summit in Sussex this weekend, say they want to double the size of IMF funds to $500bn (£362bn).…

An extended version of my interview with incoming Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis:

RIGA, LATVIA – A viewer who happens to be a banker has texted a joke to me here in freezing Latvia – the former “Baltic Tiger” which has lost its roar. “What is the capital of Latvia?” the joke goes. The answer? “About two dollars.” I’m not sure the joke would go down well with…

NEAR JELGAVA, LATVIA – Janis Vitins strides across his farmyard, his camouflaged parka coat buttoned up tight because it is minus four degrees out here, though with the wind it feels like minus eight. I say “his farmyard”, and it is true that his cat is snuggled up in the barn and his dog still…

RIGA, LATVIA – I am sitting in the Latvian parliament in downtown Riga, waiting for the new Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis to show up for an interview. And the words of a local economist are ringing in my ears. “Anyone who wants to run this country must have a death wish,” he told me on the…