Riga - Eastern European foreign ministers, meeting in the Latvian capital of Riga, congratulated Albania and Croatia Tuesday "on their imminent accession" to NATO.

The two countries are due to be granted membership at the NATO summit in the French city of Strasbourg and Kehl and Baden-Baden in Germany starting on April 3.

The foreign ministers also voiced approval of recent elections in Macedonia.

Riga  - Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said Monday his government did not intend to approach international lenders for an additional 1 billion euros (1.35 billion dollars) on top of an existing 7.5-billion assistance package, as reported by some media.

"Is Latvia's government requesting an additional billion? The answer is no," he said during a press briefing.

However, Dombrovskis stopped short of ruling out such action in future.

Riga  - Troubled Latvian bank Parex got a boost on Thursday when it confirmed it had agreed terms with creditors to pay back around 775 million euros (1 billion dollars) in syndicated loans.

Failure to reach a compromise deal would have seen a group of 60 lenders, including Germany's Commerzbank, demanding immediate payment, effectively forcing Parex out of business.

Riga - A senior official of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) confirmed Wednesday that the bank was interested in taking a stake in Latvia's troubled Parex Bank.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Latvian Prime Miinster Valdis Dombrovskis, the EBRD's Varel Freeman said the bank would confirm the exact nature of its investment in coming weeks.

Riga - A landmark bridge project in the Latvia's capital Riga wasted billions of dollars in taxpayers' money, according to an official government report Wednesday.

The 800-metre-long Dienvidu Tilts or "Southern Bridge" was the biggest construction project in the Baltic states for 25 years and opened in November 2008 -but has been beset by controversy and rumours about its true cost.

Riga - The new Latvian government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis successfully negotiated its first serious test Monday when a controversial event to commemorate Latvians who served in the Nazi German Waffen-SS during World War II passed without major incident.

Interior Minister Linda Murniece, in place only since the government took office on March 12, praised police efforts to prevent the outbreaks of violence which have marred previous years' events and which rocked the Latvian capital, Riga, in January.