Latvia to revoke Latvian citizenship for Russians who support Ukraine war

 President Egils Levits of Latvia supported the idea of revoking the citizenship of Russians who support the current Ukraine war.

Speaking on the plans of Latvia to remove citizenship of Russians who support the Ukraine war, the President said that among Latvian Russians there is a part that is “clearly pro-Ukrainian”, there are also those “who have not yet understood what is happening, but are gradually moving towards understanding”.

“And one part, which is a minority, supports the Russian position. And this means that they are outside the spectrum of democracy,” the president stressed.

He also spoke of a draft already in place, to remove citizenship of dual holders:

“Citizenship can be taken away from them. Now there is such a draft in the Saeima. We have to look at those, including those who express such views that are outside this democratic spectrum, and it is also well enough aggressive … For example, it concerns jihadists.”

In April 2022, the Latvian Saeima approved a law to deprive people with dual citizenship of citizenship for supporting actions that threaten the territorial integrity of other democracies and for direct participation in such actions.

If such a person has only Latvian citizenship, there is no mechanism to deprive them of it yet.

The President of Latvia spoke on the citizenship issue in an interview with Russian media channel RTVI, which was banned in Latvia.

Latvia’s national media council banned broadcasting of all Russian TV channels, as reported on June 6.

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