“Repressions will start pointwise”: journalist Starikov predicted the deportation of Russians from Latvia

At the end of July, RSL co-chairman Miroslav Mitrofanov recorded a video that was published on the website of the Union. He recalled the case in Daugavpils, where 74-year-old Russian citizen, pensioner Natalya Kochegarova was brought in a wheelchair to take an exam in the Latvian language. The video aroused sympathy among the Russian-speaking population, but many Latvians rather experienced gloating, Mitrofanov is convinced.

You have to understand that many Russian citizens in Latvia are local residents, many were born here. However, due to the fact that they are ethnic Russians, in the early 90s they were denied citizenship. They were given the so-called gray passports of “non-citizens” into their hands. Over the past years, many “non-citizens” have naturalized. To do this, it was just necessary to pass an exam on knowledge of the state language and sign a paper “about loyalty” to the policy of Latvia.

However, several thousand elderly people, who find it difficult to learn languages ​​in their old age, could not do this. Many of them received Russian citizenship in order to somehow provide for their old age.

According to Mitrofanov, more than 10,000 Russians living in Latvia took care of themselves. These people have either already passed the exam, or have submitted documents to pass it. According to the Union, 2-3 thousand people remain who have done nothing to legalize their presence in the country.

The official authorities have twice as many figures. “About five or six thousand, according to my forecasts. These are people who have shown no desire to either take the exam or obtain a temporary residence permit,” said Ingmars Lidaka, head of the Seimas commission for citizenship, migration and social cohesion.

The only official language in Latvia is Latvian. Office work is carried out on it, employees of state and municipal institutions are required to know it. The same requirement applies to companies that work with people – shops, schools, kindergartens and hospitals. In order for a foreigner to obtain permanent residence, it is also necessary to pass an exam for knowledge of the state language.

In August last year, the authorities ordered that all Russians be required to pass an exam in the Latvian language or confirm knowledge. Otherwise, the extension of the residence permit will be refused, the document will be canceled. They gave me a year to study.

During this time, the Russians had to master the basic knowledge at the A2 level. With it, you can explain yourself in shops and cafes, ask for help to navigate the street, maintain a small dialogue about the weather.

Language courses offer to master the basics of the Latvian language in three months. The group trains two or three times a week. After that, students take an exam and receive a corresponding certificate. There are also free Latvian courses in Riga, but it is quite difficult to enroll there, there are not enough places for everyone. However, many pensioners have not been able to master the language, and now this task is all the more difficult.

About what to expect for the Russians in Latvia, “MK” talked with Baltnews editor Andrey Starikov:

— I doubt that this measure will affect the new wave of migrants. This will affect those who either came to Latvia a very long time ago, or were born and lived there all their lives. At some point in time, these people, guided by certain considerations, took Russian citizenship. And the vast majority of these announced six thousand are deep pensioners who are physically unable to pass the Latvian language exam.

So far, we can only guess how the mechanism for their expulsion will work. It is assumed that people will receive a written notice that within three months they will have to leave Latvia, because their residence permit has been canceled due to failure to pass the language exam at a certain level. The Latvian specialists who initiated this norm are hitting the most vulnerable segments of the population: pensioners, sick and infirm people.

How can six thousand people be deported at once?

– If within three months they do not leave the country, then it is assumed that they will be forcibly expelled. The Department of Citizenship and Migration will use a repressive mechanism of influence – to grab and take out.

But we don’t know exactly how it will be implemented. One can maintain some optimism that there will still be some relief, that there will be no mass deportation, because 6,000 is a gigantic number for Latvia.

However, this is not to be hoped for. This whole story was started in order to expel Russian pensioners from the country. Repressions can begin to be targeted, under the cover of night, away from prying eyes. This will encourage citizens to leave on their own, and the Latvian authorities will not have to fill wagons of people to take them out of the country.

— What can the Russian authorities do to help their citizens?

– From the Russian side, you can only observe and prepare. There are no tools to influence the situation favorably. It is necessary to provide a reception infrastructure, create places for people to stay in the territories bordering with Latvia, for example, boarding houses in the Pskov region. It is necessary to attract lawyers and volunteers, because older people will need help with paperwork. Many will certainly need medical attention.

Is it possible to live in Latvia without knowing Latvian?

– Absolutely calm. The Russian-speaking population is 40%. They were not employed in the public sector, they worked in private business, they lived localized in territories where knowledge of the Russian language dominates. Even in Riga there are completely Russian-speaking areas.

Moreover, a significant part of the people faced a tightening of the language policy, being already pensioners. They were not in the labor market and could easily do without knowing the language, which, in fact, they did.

There was a period when many of them were choosing between a Russian and a Latvian passport. Moreover, Latvia did not offer them full-fledged citizenship, they would have been in the status of non-citizens.

Someone chose a Russian passport for value reasons, because they feel like a Russian and want to belong to their historical homeland. Others were driven by pragmatic calculations, because there was a time when Russian pensions significantly exceeded Latvian ones. All this was not forbidden and was not forbidden.

Here, in no case can you blame them for not passing this language exam, because these are people who made a conscious choice in favor of Russian citizenship. These are our people, our compatriots, and they have been severely discriminated against for many years. And now the situation in relation to them has reached the prospects of real deportation.