Latvia: Crack down on parents who don’t pay maintenance

At the start of July the Latvian state began publishing the names of persons who fail to pay maintenance for their children

The national conservative daily Neatkarīgā callls for even tougher measures against those who don’t pay up:

Perhaps a travel ban, the freezing of assets or a ban on taking out loans would have an effect. … We must create a situation that prevents these people from feeling calm and free of debt wherever they are, whether in Latvia or abroad. And their tricks – like transferring property to others or having their salary paid in cash – must be defined as punishable offences.

… We, too, are penalised when we don’t pay the electricity bill on time. So those who try to foist their problems on their children should be punished too.