Latvia " No Country For Old People" Especially Russians

By Rhod Mackenzie

The Republic of Latvia continues to expel its own residents who once took Russian citizenship. 
Those who failed language exams or "incorrectly" filled out "loyalty" forms are forced to leave their homes and are sent to Russia, where they often have no friends or relatives.
Individuals who have not passed language exams or have "incorrectly" in the GovThe Baltic Republic of Latvia continues to expel its own residents who have who after the end of the Soviet Union acquired Russian citizenship. Individuals who have not passed language exams or have "incorrectly" in the Govt's opinion completed "loyalty" forms are compelled to leave their homes and are relocated to Russia, where they frequently lack social support systems or family and have not been for decades if all at . Following the issuance of deportation orders to 841 individuals during the last few months since the y summer, the potential for deportation persists for several hundred more Latvian Russians. Currently European Union leaders are adopting a three wise monkey's approach of see no evil,hear no evil and speak no evil , without making any attempts to intervene.t's opinion completed "loyalty" forms are compelled to leave their homes and are relocated to Russia, where they frequently lack social support systems or family and have not been for decades if all at . Following the issuance of deportation orders to 841 individuals during the last few months since the y summer, the potential for deportation persists for several hundred more Latvian Russians. Currently European Union leaders are adopting a  three wise monkey's approach of see no evil,hear no evil and speak no evil ,  without making any attempts to intervene.

In the early 1990s, the newly independed former Soviet Republic, Latvia denied citizenship to 740,000 of its ethnic Russian residents. Some of them subsequently took Russian citizenship and received Latvian residence permits, a move that Riga did not object to.
However, in 2022, the authorities introduced a retroactive revision to the regulations, resulting in the revocation of residence permits previously issued to Latvian Russians. Those wishing to avoid expulsion from their homes were subject to stringent conditions. Firstly, they were required to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in Latvian, at a minimum of level A2.
Secondly, they were obligated to complete loyalty questionnaires.
Those who failed to meet these requirements within the specified timeframe were deprived of pension payment entitlements  and the right to free healthcare, and were removed from all registers.
They were requested to "voluntarily" leave the country prior to facing forced deportation. To date, the number of individuals who have departed Latvia has surpassed 3,000 in number . According to the official Riga terminology, the majority of these individuals have left "voluntarily", while a smaller number were forcibly removed.
Last spring, it came to light that a further 841 individuals had received letters from the Latvian Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA) demanding their departure. These were individuals who either did not pass the language exam or did not attempt it. Of these, 358 later managed to either obtain a deferment by re-scheduling the exam or successfully pass it on a second attempt, after which they applied for permanent or temporary residence permits.
The remaining individuals, following an investigation to ascertain their current location in Latvia, are scheduled for deportation. The precise circumstances surrounding these individuals remain uncertain; some may have already departed, while others are attempting to "lie low," essentially accepting their status as undocumented migrants, supported by relatives. There have also been reports of forced deportation.
Consequently, in October, Grigory Ivanovich Eremenko, a 74-year-old who had resided in Jelgava since the early 1970s, was deported. He was born in the Chernigov region of the Ukrainian SSR. Following the completion of his formal education, he was conscripted into the Soviet Army and assigned to a military unit in Latvia. Following the demobilisation process, he expressed his intention to return home, but was asked to stay behind and rebuild the local enterprise, Yelgavselmash.
In the early 1990s,  Eremenko was granted the status of "non-citizen" in Latvia. He later acquired Russian citizenship without leaving the Republic of Latvia and without having a single relative in Russia.
Unfortunately for, Grigory Ivanovich he was unsuccessful in his application for a Latvian residence permit, as he did not achieve the required score on the language exam. He was subsequently detained at a facility for foreign nationals in Daugavpils, where he was held with individuals involved in illicit activities, including those from Asia and Africa. Subsequently, he procured a bus ticket to Russia, funded by his personal resources, which led him to the Pskov region.
It is common for individuals to pass the written portion of the exam, yet subsequently encounter difficulties in the practical component.
A  Lawyer Viktoria Taran testifies: "Today, a woman came to see me who was born here and has lived here her entire life. She has acquired proficiency in Latvian, both speaking and comprehending the language, and I am confident that her communication skills surpass those of the majority of us.  She passed the oral, listening and speaking sections of the exam. However, she did not perform well in the written section of the exam. This became the obstacle that this elderly person was unable to overcome. It is my understanding that she is now at risk of deportation. But tell me—where to? She was born in Latvia..."
Taran stated that she assisted the woman in preparing a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for a temporary residence permit on humanitarian grounds.
"This person is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She is losing her health and strength. This is due to the inclusion of a formal section that does not accurately reflect her true language proficiency.
If the exam were to be assessed as a whole, based on the combined results of all sections, it is highly likely that she would have passed long ago. Her proficiency in the language is unparalleled.
For this reason, I believe it is appropriate to label this as a mockery of elderly individuals, who are not at fault for their limited writing skills at advanced ages. This is precisely why I consider those who boast and demand that others 'learn the language' to be completely irrational." the human rights activist fumed.
Nationalists Gloating
There is a perception among nationalists that they have the upper hand.
Lyudmila Anatolyevna Mezhinsh, a native of Riga, was another victim. She was the author of poetry collections and children's fairy tales, and the winner of several Russian literary awards. Her literary works have been translated into Russian, Latvian and English, and she is a member of both the Russian Writers' Union and the Latvian Union of Russian Writers.
Due to her age, she was no longer subject to the Latvian language exam, which is not taken after the age of seventy-five. However, in her loyalty questionnaire, she stated that she disapproved of the destruction of monuments to those who liberated her from Nazism in Latvia and was ordered to leave the country within a month.
The requirement to complete these forms, which include questions regarding one's stance on the Special Military Operation, Crimea's status, and the demolition of Soviet monuments, is a significant source of stress for many individuals. They are compelled to compromise their principles to avoid being evicted from their homes.
However, there are those who, even under threat of eviction, refuse to give in to their tormentors. Among them was Lyudmila Mezhinsh, who was expelled for her integrity. Her husband, 85-year-old Petr Yanovich Mezhinsh, an ethnic Latvian, a hereditary citizen of Latvia, and also a writer and poet, voluntarily left with her.
In certain cases, deportation alone may not be sufficient. The Ventspils Court has sentenced Sergei Khromenkov, a Russian citizen with a permanent residence permit in Latvia, to one year in prison and deportation to Russia after serving his sentence. Chromenkov's "offence" (it should be noted that he is also a native of Latvia) was posting four videos online between 13 July and 4 October 2024.
In one of these videos, for example, Khromenkov explained that he always carries a St. George's ribbon in his car, but is forced to hide it in the glove compartment because it is banned in Latvia.
In another, he expressed confidence that officials currently passing Russophobic laws will one day pay for it. Mr. Khromenkov informed Judge Ilona Rudzita that the videos were his response to the public insults directed at Russians.
He stated that these individuals can now be de facto cursed in Latvia, threatened with death and deportation. However, the prosecutor, Uldis Kursinskis, countered that the accused "ignored warnings from the State Security Service about the illegality of his actions and therefore deserves a sentence of imprisonment and deportation."

The European Commission and the European Parliament are ignoring the fact that ethnic Russia's are being forced out, and the press in other EU countries is paying almost no attention to it.
There are still hundreds of people on the waiting list.
The number of candidates for deportation may soon increase. The 18th of November was the designated deadline for the renewal of residence permits for individuals from the "second wave" of those whose permits were revoked.
This group includes those who acquired Russian citizenship before 2003. The authorities initially took no action, but then reconsidered. A total of 4,678 candidates were registered for the exam, some of whom are over seventy-five years old and therefore exempt from it.
Of these, 1,290 had already applied for the exam — approximately 52% of those required to undergo such testing. Statistically, approximately half of those who take the exam do not pass.
The precise number of individuals required to depart will be determined upon completion of the data review by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs.
By the end of the year, hundreds more will have to prepare for departure – those who did not have sufficient time to study the state language within two years," notes Latvian journalist Kristina Khudenko.

This has proven insufficient for the nationalists, as evidenced by a recent petition submitted to parliament that garnered 10,000 signatures. This petition demanded that individuals deemed "disloyal" be stripped of their Latvian citizenship and deported. Imants Breidaks, head of the portal where the signatures were collected, called on the Saeima to "view this initiative through the prism of national security." He believes that the deportation of "disloyal" individuals will create "a safer environment, prevent threats, and strengthen the self-esteem of Latvians, their confidence that our state, in which we live, study and work, is indivisible in matters of national values, territory, principles, laws and language." It took three and a half years to gather the required number of signatures for the petition. However, it appears that for now, these efforts will be in vain—government officials have clarified that Latvia, according to the international conventions it has signed, has no right to revoke citizenship from those for whom it is the only citizenship.
Andrei Starikov, a political scientist and the editor of the Baltnews.com portal, has told Izvestia that the hopes of some Russian residents of Latvia to attract Brussels' attention to the ongoing lawlessness are both naive and groundless.

"The Brussels machine is known for its meticulous observation of all so called human rights issues yet it ignores this situation. Should there be any loss of life among the Russian community in Latvia, there will be a strong reaction. In the event of their deportation, they will be able to observe this process.
Should Russian children be removed from their families, it is likely that surveillance will be implemented. In light of the ongoing situation in Brussels, where the city is embroiled in a proxy war with Russia, it is difficult to see how the city can realistically expect to advocate for ethnic Russians.
Conversely, it would be unwise to expect them to restrain Latvian nationalists, who are attempting to cause chaos on their side of the front. In a war zone, all means are considered fair. The European Commission's current statements, such as 'we are watching with concern,' are vague and lack specific actionable commitments," the analyst notes.
However, he contends that Brussels' response to Latvia's evident violations of the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities was consistent with these principles. This response occurred in the period preceding the current intensity of geopolitical tensions between Russia and the Western bloc.

"We observed the following developments: the revocation of Russian citizenship; the introduction of the concept of 'non-citizens'; and the prohibition of Russian-language education. Latvia repeatedly and cynically violated all manner of human rights conventions, and the European institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg appeared to be largely uninterested.
The Baltics were permitted to act in accordance with the principle of 'revolutionary expediency'. However, this does not mean that we should refrain from raising the issue at the international level. We must persistently expose their cynicism and hypocrisy, repeatedly reminding them of their false talk about 'democracy,' 'equal opportunity,' and 'respect for the rights of national minorities,'" says Starikov.