Riga - Officials confirmed Thursday that former Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga would seek the position of European Union president when it is created after the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.

Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis gave tacit support to Vike-Freiberga on Wednesday but waited until Thursday to confirm that her name would be in the mix.

Dombrovskis' foreign policy adviser Solveiga Silkalna told the German Press Agency dpa that Vike-Freiberga's name was "being floated publicly" at the EU summit in Brussels but that no formal nomination process had begun.

Riga - One former and one current president from two Baltic states emerged Wednesday as potential candidates for the new position of European Union president.

Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis gave tacit support to the candidacy of former President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. Meanwhile, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the 55-year-old incumbent president of Estonia, was also mentioned as a possible candidate Wednesday.

Riga - A remote field in northern Latvia briefly became the site of a media feeding frenzy Monday after local media reported a meteor strike on Sunday night.

But by Monday afternoon, more and more voices were suggesting a non-celestial source for the unusual find. The crater, they said, was the work of human hands.

Geologist Dainis Ozols told news website Delfi. lv he had visited the site and believed the crater was manmade. Local media speculated that the whole incident could be an elaborate hoax.

Riga - Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite called Saturday for NATO to develop a comprehensive defence plan for the Baltic states.

"We appeal for and demand security in the form of a NATO emergency plan for the Baltic region," Grybauskaite said after a summit meeting at Riga castle with her Latvian and Estonian counterparts, Valdis Zatlers and Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Later in the day at a NATO conference being held in the Latvian capital, Grybauskaite expanded on her demand for better protection from the military alliance.

Riga - The national budget of the Baltic state of Latvia is not something that generally makes international headlines. But the 2010 budget is managing to do just that - before it has even been agreed.

The reason is simple. Latvia's 2010 budget could affect the economic future of large parts of Europe.

Riga - Latvia's central bank govenor said Thursday that devaluation of the Baltic state's national currency, the lat, would offer no solution to the country's economic troubles.

Speaking at the bank's annual conference, Ilmars Rimsevics blasted both the economic policies of previous governments and economists who have recommended devaluation as a viable option as Latvia struggles with one of the world's deepest recessions.

Advocates of devaluation were "quacks" offering "psuedo solutions" Rimsevics said, while government had failed to listen to the central bank's recommendations.

"Some say Latvia has an alternative - to devalue the lat. From devaluation of the lat there would not be more money ... things would actually get more expensive," he said.

Riga  - The prime minister of the cash-strapped Baltic state of Latvia said Wednesday assets in public ownership could be sold to raise funds as work continues on finding extra cash for the country's 2010 budget.

Speaking after a meeting with President Valdis Zatlers, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis would only name nationalised bank Parex as a company that was definitely for sale but did not rule out the possibility that other assets could be privatised.

Riga  - The capital of Latvia on Tuesday was named one of two European capitals of culture for the year 2014, joining the Swedish city of Umea, whose nomination was confirmed last week.

Riga won the approval of a European selection jury, beating out competition from two smaller Latvian cities, Cesis and Liepaja. The jury includes representatives from various European Union institutions, including the European Parliament and the European Commission.

Riga's mayor, Nils Usakovs, said he was delighted with the result and emphasized the economic benefits the cultural title would bring.

Riga - Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini continued a whistle-stop tour of the Baltic states Tuesday with an itinerary that saw him meeting two foreign ministers and two presidents within a few hours.

Frattini arrived in Latvia fresh from talks on Monday with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, which touched on a long-running dispute over ownership of "Villa Lituania," the former building of the Lithuanian embassy in Rome during the period between the two world wars.

Riga  - Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis on Friday welcomed a decision by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release 195 million euros (280 million dollars) to help the Baltic state's stricken economy.

Speaking on Latvian television, Dombrovskis said the payment "sends a positive message to the markets" and shows his government's hard-hitting economic reforms are working but that work on the 2010 budget needs to proceed if future IMF payments are to be made.

Riga/Washington  - Financially troubled Latvia saw a bail-out agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) given approval Thursday in a move that releases 195 million euros (280 million dollars) to help its stricken economy.

The IMF executive board in Washington approved the payment after considering Latvia's progress in making structural reforms and slashing spending, it confirmed in a statement.

Latvia will be allowed to run a fiscal deficit of up to 13 per cent of GDP, compared with 5 per cent in the original agreement.

Riga - European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, who is from Latvia, confirmed Wednesday that he would seek a second term in office in Brussels.

Speaking to the press after a meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who is responsible for naming the Baltic state's candidate for the commission, Piebalgs described himself as a "compromise candidate" acceptable to all the parties in Latvia's fragile five-party ruling coalition.

Riga  - Two months before the Berlin Wall came down, an equally spectacular event took place farther to the east in the Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. But what happened on August 23 remains little known to many in the West.

At 7 pm that day, as many as 2 million people (no one knows the exact figure) joined hands across the Baltic states to form a human chain from Vilnius to Tallinn via Riga. They stood in silence for 15 minutes to demand their independence.

Riga - The presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania urged their people Monday to remember the events of 20 years ago that helped lead to the collapse of Communism.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, Valdis Zatlers of Latvia and Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania released a joint statement calling on their citizens to take part in a Baltic unity run called "Heartbeats for the Baltics."

Riga - The Defence Ministry in the Baltic state of Latvia launched an enquiry Tuesday into the costly purchase of five minesweepers from the Netherlands after it emerged that the ships had been bought without instruction manuals.

"The items were purchased without instructions in a language which the user could understand," said a Defence Ministry statement.

Riga - The economic situation in Latvia worsened Monday with fresh data released showing a deepening recession and the sudden resignation of one of the country's most respected bankers.

Figures from the national statistics office showed the economy contracted 19.6 per cent in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

The Latvian economy contracted by an annual 18 per cent during the first quarter of 2009.

Riga  - The Amber Coast sanitorium, located in the Latvian seaside resort of Jurmala, features a dacha where Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev would greet his guests.

A clock with a hammer-and-sickle pendulum ticks in the corner, just as it did during the Breznhev era; a portrait of Lenin stares down from the wall.

Now, nearly 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, parties of a different kind make use of this residence in the former Soviet republic. The dacha attracts patrons interested in re-experiencing the atmosphere of the Soviet era, tapping into a burgeoning nostalgia for what some, in these hard economic times, regard as a more stable and secure bygone age.

Riga  - Latvia's European Union Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, has ruled out any ambitions to become the embattled Baltic state's prime minister when his current term in Brussels expires.

Speaking to the Latvijas Avize daily newspaper, Piebalgs said that as a non-partisan prime minister he would lack electoral and political authority.

"I think this is absolutely out of question at the moment, because then it would be necessary to go and win elections," he said.

Riga - The mayor of the Latvian capital, Riga, has launched an outspoken attack on drunken British tourists which he says are ruining his city's reputation.

Speaking to weekly publication Rigas Laiks, Mayor Nils Usakovs said he was tired of British stag groups "pissing around" in his city.

"It is not politically correct [to say so], but sadly, this is their specialization," Usakovs said.

Riga should try to attract more civilized visitors from other countries, he added.

Riga - Latvia's dire economic circumstances were further underscored Monday by official figures showing industrial production down by 18.5 per cent in June from the same month last year.

The most notable decrease was recorded in the transport sector with production of ships and rolling stock collapsing 77 per cent.