Ties between Latvia and Russia are worsening after a Kremlin official said the forced deportation of Russian citizens was “not ruled out”.
Latvia, which is a NATO member, wrote to Russian citizens in May that they would be asked to leave the country if they hadn’t submitted documents to extend a permanent residence permit or hadn’t registered for a Latvian language test by 1 September.
It said those affected, which is understood to be around 3,500 people, would need to leave at the end of November, leading to tensions between Moscow and Riga.
Now, Oleg Zykov, a deputy to the Russian ambassador in Latvia, has told the TASS news agency that the expulsion of Russian citizens had “not been ruled out”.
He claimed Russian citizens in Latvia were already facing “a campaign of expulsion” and were being turned into “powerless illegal immigrants” by the Latvian government.
He warned against further action from Riga, claiming that Russian citizens make up a large portion the labour market, meaning that Latvia could lose thousands of workers.
He also noted an upturn of Russian citizens asking for help from the embassy in Riga.
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