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Latvia Bans Officials From Traveling to Russia and Belarus Amid Rising Security Threats
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The Latvian Seimas has passed a bill in its final, third reading, banning lawmakers and officials from traveling to Russia and Belarus. To travel to these countries, they will now require special permission, Delfi reported on June 12.
The ban will apply to individuals with access to state secrets, those responsible for the security of critical infrastructure, employees of the ministries of the interior, defense, and justice, as well as institutions under their control, military facilities, the Bureau for Prevention and Combating Corruption, tax police, and customs.
The ban will also extend to employees of the diplomatic and consular services, as well as those working in the prosecution and judiciary.
These individuals will be prohibited from entering these countries, even for transit purposes. Exceptions will only be made with special permission if the trip is required by a service order or for humanitarian reasons.
The travel ban is being introduced to prevent or reduce national security threats from Russia and Belarus, as well as to safeguard the security and legitimate interests of individuals working in public administration, in a context where Latvia’s ability to protect its citizens in these countries is limited.
“It is no secret that Russia and Belarus are increasingly conducting espionage against Latvia, and for these purposes, any Latvian citizen crossing the border into these countries is of interest. Despite clear recommendations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Security Service, advising against traveling to Russia or Belarus for both state and personal security reasons, the number of people leaving continues to rise,” said Ainārs Latkovskis, Chairman of the National Security Commission.
He emphasized that, under current circumstances, traveling to Russia and Belarus is extremely dangerous, yet a significant portion of society, unfortunately, does not realize this.
“Intelligence officers from the security services of these countries make contact with Latvian citizens on their territory, where they have much more favorable conditions for their work. They are not hindered by the counterintelligence operations of Latvian services or actions by the authorities of allied states. As a result, our ability to assist Latvian citizens who find themselves in trouble in Russia or Belarus is extremely limited,” Latkovskis stated.
He added that the goal of recruiting Latvian citizens by the aggressor state is not only to gather information on internal processes, planned foreign policy initiatives, and security measures necessary for the normal functioning of the state, but also to involve these individuals in other harmful actions, up to activities directed against the interests of the state or the refusal to perform official duties.
On May 27, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže called on European Union member states to halt the issuance of visas to Russian nationals, citing security concerns.
