Putin is furious: Latvia wants to forcibly deport Russians

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“There will certainly be forced deportations,” says MP Gunars Kutris (63) in Riga about the situation of Russians in Latvia. Hundreds of people who have lived in the EU country for decades and speak only Russian could be affected by the deportations. “This will become clear in practice,” says the head of the Commission on Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion. In the future, anyone who cannot prove knowledge of Latvian will have to leave the country. This can be a maximum of 3,000 people.

In Russia, the power apparatus speaks of ‘discrimination’ in an EU country that is committed to protecting the rights of minorities. About a quarter of the population of Latvia, with its 1.9 million inhabitants, belongs to the large Russian-speaking minority.

Putin speaks of ‘pig-like’ treatment

Many people in the other Baltic states of Estonia and Lithuania are stateless or have a Russian passport. They came to the Baltic states during the communist era, when the three republics were forced to become part of the Soviet Union. Moscow, once the power center of the Baltic states, has complained for years that Russians are discriminated against there.

“In the Baltic states, tens of thousands of people are being declared inhuman and deprived of their most fundamental rights,” Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin (71) complained at a commemoration of the Second World War at the end of January. He had already talked about the – literally – ‘pig-like’ treatment of the Russians in Latvia. He accuses the government in Riga of taking political advantage of the generally hostile mood against Russia over the war of aggression against Ukraine to take action against the long-unloved minority.

Anyone who wants to continue living legally in Latvia with a Russian passport must now apply for permanent residency status and prove through a language test that they have everyday knowledge of Latvian. The deadline for this was September 1. Anyone who has not passed the test can apply for a two-year extension of the residence permit and repeat the test.

Latvia rejects Russia’s accusations

All others who did not report to the authorities on their own initiative have now received mail from the migration authority – they are being threatened with deportation from Latvia. The background is the changes to Latvian immigration law adopted in autumn 2022 in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

Behind this lies the question that has arisen again and again since Latvia’s regained independence in 1991: how loyal the population of Russian origin is and how they would behave in the event of a conflict. There are fears that Russia could exploit and incite these people. Or, like Ukraine, even justify an invasion by saying it needs to protect its compatriots abroad.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics (50) rejected Putin’s claims and Russian state propaganda. “We all know very well that Russians living in Latvia are not discriminated against. But there are completely legitimate requirements: knowledge of the national language, and this is the basis of any country.”

Controversial treatment of pensioners of Russian origin

But especially in the east of the country, on the border with Russia and Belarus, Russian is an everyday and colloquial language. This is one of the reasons why more than 60 percent of participants do not pass the language tests for level A2 the first time. The demands are controversial. Critics point out that the regulation and possible deportations mainly affect older and vulnerable people who do not pose a threat to national security. Many have spent their entire lives in Latvia.

Anyone who speaks to Latvians in the old town of Riga always hears: Yes, there was enough time to learn the language. Young people in particular must do their best. But politicians could have demanded this thirty years ago, after independence. It is ‘nonsense’ to deport the elderly, says retired Gunars from the German news agency on the street. Young passer-by Laura says: “It’s clear that an older grandmother won’t suddenly learn Latvian tomorrow.”

Some of those affected say they don’t even know where to go after being expelled from Latvia. Some participants in the Latvian language tests reported to the dpa that they were not from Russia and had no family there. At one time, they accepted Russian citizenship mainly to receive a pension from there. But some now live in hardship because without a language test they no longer have legal residence status – and therefore no right to social benefits.

Russia is creating a program for its citizens abroad

The deportation of Boris Katkow (82), who had lived in Latvia for more than fifty years, caused a stir in Russia in mid-January. The chairman of a Latvian-Russian cooperation organization was expelled after authorities in Riga said he posed a risk to the country’s national security.

Katkov had to leave behind his 13-member family, including grandchildren, more than half of whom are Latvian citizens, the government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. He was simply dropped off at the border, he said tearfully in a video. He was housed in the neighboring Russian Baltic Sea region of Kaliningrad.

It is not in sight that Putin will invade the NATO states in the Baltic states with his army to protect Russian citizens. Instead, he ordered that a program be established for the repatriation of Russians in the event of an “illegal deportation.” A new institute for repatriation should help people with Russian roots who lived permanently abroad before the outbreak of war on February 24, 2022, to settle in their homeland or that of their ancestors. (SDA)

Source: Blick