Contents tagged with Latvia

  • Latvian court brings charges against organizer of tours to Crimea

    The Riga District Prosecutor's Office has indicted one person who is accused of organizing tourist trips to Crimea as reported by the Latvian news portal, Delfi, citing the press center of the Prosecutor General of Latvia.

    As it was previously reported in late April of this year, the Security Police (SP) of Latvia appealed to the Prosecutor of the Riga Judicial District to prosecute a person who organized a tourist trip to Crimea. The criminal process was initiated based on the violation of …

  • Crimean Tatar flag raised over Ukrainian Embassy in Latvia

    The Crimean Tatar flag was raised over the Ukrainian Embassy in Riga on the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, Rosbalt reported.

    “On the flagpole of the Ukrainian Embassy in Latvia we raised the flag of the Crimean Tatars,” Evgeny Perebiynis, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Latvia, wrote on Twitter.

    At noon on Wednesday a moment of silence was held in Ukraine in memory of the victims of the deportation in 1944.

    On May 18th, 1944, the first group of Crimean Tatars was forced …

  • Russian Navy ships seen near Latvian border

    The National Armed Forces of Latvia (NAF) have noticed the presence of Russian naval ships near Latvian territorial waters on several occasions over the last few days, Rosbalt reported, with reference to the NAF’s Twitter account.

    On Monday, the Russian Frigate Boikiy was seen near the Latvian economic zone, and on Sunday a NATO patrol aircraft spotted a Russian Il-76 cargo plane near the border.

    Also on Sunday, Russian ships Boikiy, Bira, Irgiz, Alpinist, and Zhigulevsk GS-19 were spotted. …

  • Latvia records presence of Russian warship and aircraft near its border

    On May 12th, the Armed Forces of Latvia recorded a Russian warship and eight Russian aircraft in its exclusive economic zone.

    The National Armed Forces of Latvia reported this via Twitter.

    "The Russian warship Zhigulevsk was noticed at a distance of 4 nautical miles from Latvian state border in the exclusive economic zone," the post stated.

    In addition, according to the Armed Forces, NATO fighters that patrol the skies over the Baltic Sea accompanied eight Russian aircraft: two Su-24, four …

  • Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons Russian Ambassador over controversial remarks

    The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Russian Ambassador Alexander Veshnyakov over his remarks in the media, as announced by the Press Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Raimonds Jansons.

    According to Jansons, the Ministry is concerned by the remarks made by Veshnyakov which appeared in several media sources.

    In his interview to the newspaper Vesti Segondya, Veshnyakov stated that "in Latvia, and several other countries, one can observe a deliberate …

  • 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 …