"Cancel visas of those who support Russian aggression" - Latvian President

This was reported by the Delfi agency.

According to the report, in an address to the participants of the 23rd meeting of the politically repressed in Ikšķile, Latvian President Egils Levits emphasized that additional sanctions will be imposed against Russia.

"Latvia should review already issued residence permits and visas and cancel them for those who support Russian aggression", he said in Ikšķile on August 13.

The president also announced that residence permits should no longer be issued to those permanent residents of Latvia who will accept Russian citizenship. According to Levits, they will have to leave the country.

"Trading of residence permits by previous governments and their unjustified generosity in issuing residence permits to Russian citizens, behind which only the vested interests of some political businessmen hid, created security risks and promoted bilingualism. It is time to review the consequences of this failed and dangerous policy", it is noted.

The President of Latvia said that Russia, in whatever state formats it existed, was always imperial and threatened its neighbors.

"The killing of innocent people, torture, humiliation, deportation, and deprivation of human dignity - everything that is happening in Ukraine today happened here, in our country, in Latvia", the head of state said in Ikšķile.

Delfi notes that Latvia, unlike other countries, has not issued tourist visas to Russians since the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"Russian tourists come to Latvia not only with a Latvian visa, but also with tourist visas of other Schengen countries, for example, Finland or Italy. Therefore, I believe that Latvia, together with Finland, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and other like-minded countries, should put forward a demand at the European level to suspend the issuance of tourist visas to citizens of Russia. This would be an additional sanction against Russia", the president said.