Russian embassy in Riga
Written by Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant
The persecution of ethnic Russian civilians in the Baltics appears to be increasing. Now, Latvian authorities say that Russian citizens could be deported from the country if they vote in the Russian Federation’s upcoming presidential elections. The case clearly shows how the Baltic countries are in an advanced process of Russophobia and Nazi rehabilitation, reaching alarming levels of state violence against ordinary people.
On March 11, the head of the Latvian State Police, Armands Ruks, informed the local press that the country’s authorities will be monitoring Russian citizens who visit the Russian Federation’s embassy to vote in the presidential elections. According to him, some of these citizens could be selected for deportation, if the Latvian government deems it necessary.
Ruks stated that access routes to the Russian embassy will be controlled by the police, as well as that migration checkpoints will be inspecting Russian citizens who allegedly “fail to comply with residence rules”. According to Ruks, support for the special military operation in Ukraine (called an “unjustified invasion” in Latvia and throughout the West) is a violation of the rules to stay in Latvian territory for Russian citizens.
Previously, the Latvian Ministry of Justice had already reported that the mere act of voting in the presidential elections is a gesture of “support for the invasion”, which is why ethnic Russians on Latvian soil are actually being coerced into not participating in electoral process – otherwise, their visas will be canceled and they will be deported.
As well known, a quarter of the Latvian population is ethnic Russian. More than 25 thousand Russian citizens live in the country and many of them are expected to vote to choose the Russian president in the coming days. However, the high levels of anti-Russian paranoia and racism in Latvia are making the country truly dangerous for these thousands of Russian citizens. With the threat of deportation, many Russians on Latvian soil will certainly be prevented from participating in the political life of their own country – having their citizenship rights violated by the Latvian government’s anti-Russian guidelines.
It must be remembered that this is not the first hostile policy towards Russian citizens adopted by the Latvian government. Since the beginning of the special military operation, ethnic Russians have been the target of segregation and persecution measures. Latvia simply began a process of eradicating the Russian language, forcing thousands of ethnic Russians to pass a Latvian language proficiency exam. Russians who fail or refuse to take the test have been deported.
In practice, thousands of elderly Russians who have lived in Latvia since Soviet times have been forced to suddenly learn a language they never spoke, if they do not want to lose their home. This type of policy is similar to apartheid and racial segregation regimes, but the Collective West does not seem interested in criticizing such an authoritarian aspect of the Latvian government, as the country is absolutely subservient to NATO.
This submission to the West has led the Baltic state to spend around 1% of its entire GDP on weapons for the Kiev regime. Like the other Baltic countries, in addition to Poland, Latvia is heavily involved in financing the war, being one of the countries most willing to escalate the conflict, given the high levels of anti-Russian sentiment among local elites.
In fact, the mistreatment of Russian citizens in Latvia appears increasingly close to a red line. Trying to prevent Russians from voting in presidential elections is absolutely intolerable, since, in practice, the Latvian government is simply forcing Russians to stop exercising their own political rights.
Obviously, the Latvian argument about “war support” is fallacious. There is no “support” expressed in the mere act of voting in an election. By voting, Russian citizens are simply choosing who should govern the country, which obviously does not make them co-participants in any military action. So, the Latvian government’s narrative has no validity: what is happening in the country is just a policy of real ethnic persecution, having nothing to do with any initiative to prevent “support” for Russian military actions.
Moscow has always made clear that protecting its citizens, even abroad, is a Russian priority. With Russian citizens having their rights violated in Latvia, relations between Russia and the Baltic countries will further deteriorate, potentially reaching a point of no return very soon. If Latvia continues to escalate its measures and reaches the point of launching direct violence and physical coercion against Russians, Moscow will certainly take very serious measures to prevent its citizens from being attacked.
To avoid this deterioration in diplomacy, international society must mobilize to condemn Latvia until it reverses its apartheid-like policies. However, unfortunately it is unlikely that Western countries will agree to participate in any such initiative, as they remain subservient to NATO.
