Signatures Collected Under Proposal for Expulsion for Disloyalty 0 8

In the Saeima's commission on mandates, ethics, and statements, a public initiative was discussed today — for the expulsion of disloyal individuals from Latvia and the revocation of their citizenship. It has gathered the necessary 10,000 signatures on the Manabalss.lv portal. The authors of the initiative listed on the portal are the organizers of the "For Liberation from the Soviet Legacy" march, which took place in 2022. At that time, the initiative also emerged. Since the authors themselves were not present in the Saeima today, the content of the initiative was recounted by the head of the Manabalss.lv portal.

"I urge the Saeima to consider this initiative through the lens of national security. There is a segment of people who still choose to be loyal either to the deceased Soviet empire or to today’s Kremlin empire, which seeks to build its power on the corpses. This is the direction the authors would like to draw your attention to," said the head of Manabalss.lv, Imants Breidaks.

Invited experts from various ministries and institutions expressed doubts about how lawful and feasible it is to expel a person from the country and deprive them of Latvian citizenship if it is their only citizenship?

"As early as April 2022, there were amendments to the citizenship law that define that Latvian citizenship can be revoked from a person who has provided substantial material, propaganda, technological, or any other support to a state or individuals who committed genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and so on. It is emphasized that the issue of revoking citizenship can only be considered in relation to individuals who, in the event of losing Latvian citizenship, will not remain without any citizenship at all," commented the Ministry of the Interior lawyer Sandis Blumbergs.

"An increasing number of international documents, treaties, and conventions that Latvia is part of include issues regarding potential deprivation of citizenship and the prohibition of statelessness. If we look at the experience of other countries and colleagues, nothing indicates that deprivation of citizenship is an effective means in combating threats to national security or terrorism," said parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artem Urshulskis.

The commission deputies also had many questions — and since the authors of the initiative were not present at the commission meeting, they began to speculate themselves: perhaps it concerns those with dual citizenship?

"If we read the initiative itself, which society signed, it simply states 'expulsion of disloyal individuals from Latvia and revocation of citizenship.' We understand that it most likely refers to individuals with dual citizenship and, most likely, expulsion — to that second country. But there is no absolute clarity here. Did the authors of the initiative not have the opportunity to come today and explain in detail?" said Saeima deputy Edgars Tavars (United List).

"The authors of the initiative do not see the possibility of further representing this initiative. Our duty as a platform is to respect the 10,000 residents who signed. The authors of the initiative do not renounce its content, but they do not see the possibility of being here and talking to you," replied the head of Manabalss.lv, Imants Breidaks.

"Disloyal residents of the country are not necessarily citizens or non-citizens of Latvia. They can be foreigners, people with residence permits. And this is a relevant topic currently under consideration. Probably, this initiative will not turn into a new legislative proposal, but in making decisions on existing proposals, the commission may need to take into account that more than 10,000 people have expressed their desire," commented Saeima deputy Raivis Dzintars (National Alliance).

And despite the fact that the authors of the initiative are unlikely to be present at the next commission meeting to provide more details about their proposal, the majority of deputies forwarded the initiative for consideration to the Defense, Internal Affairs, and Corruption Prevention Commission.