Latvia recognizes Russia as sponsor of terrorism, calls on EU to suspend visas for Russians, Belarusians

This was reported by the Delfi publication.

The statement "On Russia's targeted military attacks on civilians and public space of Ukraine" was supported by 67 parliamentarians.

The Latvian Sejm statement:

• stresses that Russia is purposefully persecuting the Ukrainian civilian population, resorting to torture and violence in order to occupy Ukraine, demoralizing and paralyzing the capacity of the Armed Forces and the people of Ukraine;

• recognizes Russia's violence against the civilian population, which is carried out to achieve political goals, as terrorism, and Russia as a state that supports terrorism, and calls on other like-minded countries to express this opinion;

• categorically condemns the military aggression of the Russian Federation and the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is carried out with the support and participation of the Belarusian regime;

• calls on the Euro-Atlantic community and its partners to urgently introduce and strengthen comprehensive sanctions against the Russian Federation in order to stop the military aggression of the Russian army in Ukraine, calls on the strengthening of military, financial, humanitarian and diplomatic support to Ukraine, unanimously supports initiatives condemning Russia's military actions in Ukraine, calls on bring the culprits to justice, isolate Russia from international and regional organizations, as well as adopt equivalent decisions and establish equivalent sanctions against Belarus as a supporter of Russian military aggression;

• calls on the member states of the European Union to immediately suspend the validity of tourist visas and limit the issuance of visas to citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus;

• honors the memory of all victims of Russian aggression in Ukraine - thousands of civilians and defenders of Ukraine;

• expresses solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

The document also states that Latvia considers Russia's actions in Ukraine as targeted genocide against the Ukrainian people. The Sejm of Latvia reminded that as a result of an unprovoked military attack on Ukraine, 12 million Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes, more than 5 million - their country.

In addition, the statement says that since 2014, Russia has financially, politically and militarily supported separatism and violence against civilians in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as on the occupied Crimean peninsula.

The Latvian parliament also recalls Russia's deliberate attack on Crimea, during which about 600 people died, rocket attacks on residential areas near Odesa, an attack on a shopping center in Kremenchuk, and an attack on a prison with Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka.

The Sejm of Lithuania also pointed out that the Russian Federation is the largest supplier of weapons to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and has carried out terrorist attacks in sovereign countries, including the poisoning of the Skripal family in Great Britain and the destruction of the Malaysia Airline plane, which resulted in the death of 298 people.

Regarding the suspension of visa actions, the head of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Edgar Rinkevics emphasized that the citizens of the aggressor country should not have the right to travel to civilized countries.

"Travel to Europe or any other civilised country for Russians is not an inherited and divine right but a privilege that should not be enjoyed while Russia continues its aggression One step to stop Russia is that general public feels effects of sanctions and travel ban #visaban," Rinkevics wrote on Twitter.

The head of the Ukrainian President's Office Andriy Yermak called this decision "an example for other EU states."

"The Sejm of Latvia recognized Russia as a sponsor of terrorism. This is an important step for the EU country, which should become an example for other EU countries. The parliament also called on the EU countries to stop issuing visas to citizens of Russia and Belarus. Thank you to our friends," Yermak wrote on Telegram.