In the Saeima of Latvia, the deprivation of citizenship and expulsion of disloyal individuals were discussed: what was decided? 0 4

Nuances and Discussions

The parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artem Urshulsky, pointed out to the deputies that today, a number of categories of individuals are subject to expulsion from Latvia – but these are foreigners who have violated our immigration legislation. "There are sufficient legal acts to punish disloyal individuals," Urshulsky claims. Nevertheless, "there are opportunities for discussion."

The official further reminded that Latvia is obliged to comply with international humanitarian acts. The deprivation of citizenship is, in essence, "a very serious intervention in human rights." Latvia is accountable under the relevant UN Declaration, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, etc.

"All these major documents include issues of deprivation of citizenship and the inadmissibility of increasing the number of stateless persons," said the parliamentary secretary.

Ineta Piljane, head of the Civil and Political Rights Department of the Ombudsman’s Office, called citizenship the most important human right: "The question itself is extremely complex, and it needs to be assessed very carefully. If there were any problems in Latvia with crimes based on disloyalty that our law enforcement agencies could not resolve, the security forces would definitely turn to lawmakers."

Deputy Raivis Dzintars (National Alliance): "The immigration law is currently in an 'open' state, being considered in the Committee on Defense, Internal Affairs, and Corruption Prevention – and it is quite possible to include something about expanding the circle of those expelled from Latvia.

And what does the law say?

The citizenship law, meanwhile, has a special Article 24. It is titled "Deprivation of Latvian Citizenship." Let’s read!

"(1) A person loses Latvian citizenship if they:

1. have acquired the citizenship of another state without submitting the application for renunciation of Latvian citizenship mentioned in parts two and three of Article 23 of this law and have not lost Latvian citizenship, provided that in the case of deprivation of Latvian citizenship the person does not become stateless;

2. voluntarily serves in the armed forces or military organization of any other state without the permission of the Cabinet of Ministers, except in cases where the person serves in the state armed forces or military organization of a member state of the European Union, a member state of the European Free Trade Association, a member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Federative Republic of Brazil, New Zealand, Ukraine, or in the armed forces or military organization of a state with which the Republic of Latvia has concluded an agreement on the recognition of dual citizenship, and in the case of deprivation of Latvian citizenship the person does not become stateless;

3. has intentionally provided false information or concealed facts related to the conditions for obtaining or restoring Latvian citizenship when confirming their belonging to Latvian citizenship or during naturalization;

4. has engaged in activities aimed at the violent overthrow of the state power of the Republic of Latvia, publicly called for the violent overthrow of the state power enshrined in the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia or the violent change of the state system, publicly called for the implementation or carried out organizational actions aimed at the liquidation of the state independence of the Republic of Latvia, as confirmed by a court decision, and in the case of deprivation of Latvian citizenship this person does not become stateless;

5. has provided substantial financial, material, propaganda, technological, or other support to states or individuals carrying out actions, including genocide, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of democratic states or the constitutional order, or if the person has participated in the implementation of such actions and in the case of deprivation of Latvian citizenship this person does not become stateless.

Information that the relevant person has committed any of the aforementioned actions is provided by the state security institutions. Challenging and appealing the decision does not suspend its effect.

(2) The deprivation of Latvian citizenship of a person does not affect the citizenship of their spouse, children, or other family members.

(3) In the case mentioned in point 3 of part one of this article, the decision to deprive Latvian citizenship is made if no more than 10 years have passed since its acquisition or restoration.

(4) The mentioned 10-year period in part three of this article does not apply in cases where:

1. the person has been convicted of any of the international crimes mentioned in Article 5 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

2. the person holds the citizenship of a state not mentioned in points 1, 2, 3, and 4 of part one of Article 9 of this Law.

(5) The Cabinet of Ministers establishes the responsible structure and procedure for depriving a person of Latvian citizenship. A person deprived of Latvian citizenship by the decision of an official authorized by the head of the responsible structure may contest it by submitting a relevant application to the head of the responsible structure. The decision of the head of the structure can be appealed in accordance with the procedure established by the Administrative Procedure Law."

...In other words, everything is already kind of prescribed. But, let’s note, this only concerns those who have acquired another citizenship. And, of course, there is no talk of expulsion. And this is the most important thing, as the image of trains making "toot-toot" to the East constantly soothes the souls of radically minded patriotic fellow citizens in social media discussions. Therefore, perhaps American allies in the person of the Pentagon’s authorized expert Colin Smith advised Latvia to dismantle the rails in the Russian Federation and Belarus? Fewer temptations!