Contents tagged with Latvia

  • Former Latvian President: We cannot let Russia tell our country what to do

    The former President of Latvia, Valdis Zatlers, discussed his recent visit to Moscow where he presented his book of memoirs, This is who I am! Zatlers shared his impressions with journalists from Latvijas Avīze, BaltNews reported.

    “The Russian media shows everything bad about Latvia and it ignores questions asked in the Diplomatic Academy concerning the improvement of relations with Latvia,” said the former President, urging the exploration of Russian diplomacy deeper than it is currently …

  • Latvia finds Russian submarine near its borders

    Latvian military forces discovered a Russian submarine and a military ship near the Latvian border. This information was disclosed on the Twitter account of the Latvian Armed Forces on May 2.

    According to the tweet, a class "Kilo" submarine and a military ship, "Victor Konetsky",  were spotted at a distance of approximately 8 nautical miles from Latvian territorial borders. 

    In April Russian fighters intercepted American military aircraft as many as 3 times over the Baltic Sea. Also in April, …

  • Berlin confirms its plan to send German soldiers to Lithuania

    On April 29th, after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Latvia, Māris Kučinskis, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, announced the involvement of the Bundeswehr in the policy of Russian containment along the eastern borders of NATO, Deutsche Welle reported.

    “I want to emphasize the fact that it is extremely important for us to operate within the NATO-Russia Agreement,” Merkel said. At the same time, she expressed her hope to intensify the dialogue between Russia and the Alliance.

    “We …

  • Latvia may open a criminal case against the organizer of tours to Crimea

    The Security Police (SP) of Latvia requested that the prosecutor's office of Riga initiate criminal proceedings against a tour operator that organizes trips to the Crimea, Delfi.lv reported.

    According to the SP, the criminal proceedings were initiated as a result of the violation of the EU ban on providing services directly related to tourism in the Crimea and Sevastopol. The SP believes that enough evidence was gathered to start criminal proceedings against one individual for an intentional …

  • Latvia finds Russian ships and submarines near its borders

    During the weekend and on Monday, the Armed Forces of Latvia repeatedly documented the presence of warships and submarines of the Russian Federation near the borders of the country. The National Armed Forces of Latvia said on Twitter that “a Russian Kilo-class submarine was discovered on the 18th of April, 2016 at the distance of 21 nautical miles from the border of Latvia.”On the day before, the Armed Forces recorded a sighting of a Russian Guard frigate in the exclusive economic zone of …

  • Member of the Russian Night Wolves motorcycle club expelled from Latvia

    State Border Guard representative Yevgeniya Pozniak told Latvia’s main information agency LETA that the State Border Guard deported Igor Lakatos to Russia. Lakatos is a representative of the Russian motorcycle club "Night Wolves" and is on the list of undesirable persons in Latvia. Richard Kozlovskis, the Minister of Internal Affairs, had blacklisted Lakatos on the basis of security services reports.

    The Night Wolves were responsible for organizing last year’s race from Moscow to Berlin in …

  • Latvia bans broadcast of Russian channel RTR-Planeta

    The rebroadcasting and distribution of Russian channel RTR-Planeta’s programs have been banned in Latvia. This decision was made by the National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) on April 7th.

    "Any ban is an indication of weakness," said Petr Fedorov, head of the International Relations Directorate at VGTRK. According to him, a national regulator "attempts to force VGTRK to censure their programs."

    At the end of March, Sputnik Latvia lost the right to use the domain .lv for its online portal …

  • Latvia has built the first 3 km of a fence along the border with Russia

    The representative of the State Border Guard of Latvia, Evgenia Poznyak, stated that the first three kilometers of a fence has been built along the Latvian-Russian border, Leta reported. The fence is three meters high and was built on the territory of the Ludza Border Guard Service.

    The Ludza region borders with the Pskov region of Russia and the Vitebsk region of Belarus. Latvian authorities are planning to complete the construction of the fence in four years. The building of the fence was …

  • Pro-Kremlin British journalist deported from Latvia

    On the night of March 17th, pro-Russian blogger and journalist Graham Phillips, who was arrested during the events at the Freedom Monument, was deported to Russia. According to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Latvia, Rihards Kozlovskis, Phillips was also included on the "black list.”

    The Minister stressed that Phillips is a citizen of the EU, so he is prohibited from entering Latvia for 3 years. Taking into account the fact that Phillips arrived in Latvia by car, he could not be deported …

  • Ukraine coordinates preparation of Savchenko sanctions list

    The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, during a meeting with Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Linas Linkevičius, began coordinating the preparation of Savchenko’s sanctions list with the European Union and the US.

    According to the press service of the Ukrainian President, during the meeting, Poroshenko commented on the positive efforts of Lithuania to secure the release of Nadiya Savchenko. The parties also coordinated the preparation of Savchenko’s sanctions list.

    Poroshenko …