NEPLP Chairman Ivars Abolins expressed concern over the rise of hostility in Latvian society. He called for an end to mutual accusations of "working for the Kremlin" and not to turn ideological disagreements into a witch hunt.
The Chairman of the National Electronic Media Council (NEPLP) Ivars Abolins expressed concern over the growing level of hostility and mutual accusations in Latvian society. During the broadcast of the program "Preses klubs" on TV24, he stated that Latvians are increasingly starting to divide each other into "their own" and "enemy agents" due to political and ideological disagreements.
According to Abolins, a dangerous narrative has taken hold in the public space: anyone who does not support the Istanbul Convention is automatically labeled as a "Kremlin agent." "We know that there are indeed supporters of the Kremlin in Latvia. We recently mentioned that 83% of Russian speakers cannot directly say that they are on the side of Ukraine. But we do not call these people 'Kremlin agents,'" he noted.
However, he stated that the situation has reached absurdity — Latvians have begun to accuse other Latvians of "working for the Kremlin." As an example, Ivars Abolins recounted that one politician stated: if someone does not support the election of Janis Siksnis to the NEPLP Council, then that person is under the influence of Russia. "I personally do not support Siksnis, but that has nothing to do with Russia. It is simply my opinion. The fact that all dissenters are automatically declared enemies is absurd," emphasized Abolins.
Abolins added that such attacks manifest not only in disputes over the convention but also whenever opinions diverge. "If this does not stop, we will drive ourselves into a very deep ditch," he warned.
He called for an end to mutual accusations and labels, which, according to him, only play into the hands of the eastern neighbor. "We are not fighting real supporters of the Kremlin — those who cannot answer who Crimea belongs to. Instead, we are starting to fight each other. This is exactly what Russia wants," he said.
Here is what NEPLP head Abolins said about Ukraine and Putin 11 years ago. He has already acknowledged that these are his words and apologized, but "the internet remembers everything."
Various statements by Ivars Abolins are circulating on social media, including tweets from 2013 and 2014, in which he does not support Ukraine at all. Here are his quotes:
"Look at today. No matter how Putin is, everyone in Russia sticks together, he protects it from chaos," wrote Ivars Abolins on July 19, 2013.
"In general, Latvia needs to send money to Yanukovych and pray to God that Ukraine does not get closer to the EU. What are we going to do here with a million-strong crowd of Russian speakers?" reads his tweet from January 31, 2014.
In turn, the publication The Insider noted that on March 18, 2014 — the day of the formal completion of the annexation of Crimea — Abolins praised Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech, calling it "just excellent." "All the western coiffed zeros can go take a rest. Unfortunately," he added. This was reported by the portal "Meduza," which operated in Latvia.
Later, Ivars Abolins apologized for these anti-Ukrainian statements. He claims that his opinion has changed over the years.
Leave a comment