The North Korea specialist with a Russian passport, Andrei Lankov, detained by the police right before the start of the lecture in Riga, spoke in an interview with an Estonian resource.
"They (in Latvia) were scared of a person with a Russian passport, although I entered on an Australian one (Lankov has both Russian and Australian citizenship - ed.). They were scared of a person who speaks about North Korea in a rather calm manner. Most likely, they cut out a few pieces from my speeches, presenting me as a supporter of North Korea. It’s a bit strange for me that this episode attracted such attention, while I don’t consider it significant," Lankov noted, emphasizing that he likes Latvia.
"I like Latvia; I used to visit it often in my youth. I like the people, I like the architecture; overall, Latvia is a pleasant place. But everyone does foolish things. Moreover, today the situation is tense, and if I were in the Latvian government, I would probably be scared too," Lankov expressed.
@ruspostimeesee North Korea expert Lankov was deported from Latvia, and the next day he spoke in Tallinn before a huge audience👀
♬ original sound - Rus.Postimees
"The Latvian immigration service took my request into account by deporting me to Estonia. They were absolutely friendly; everything was very nice, I would say even fun! They were following orders, which I completely understood; I had no resentment or bitterness towards these men and women, and, by the way, we had a fun evening," Lankov noted.
Recall that North Korea expert Andrei Lankov was deported from Latvia to Estonia, where he spoke in Tallinn the very next day before a huge audience, writes Postimees.
Initially, Lankov was supposed to give a lecture on North Korea in Riga, but employees of the municipal police and border guard arrived at the event at the Park Inn by Radisson hotel. Soon, the scholar was taken to the immigration service.
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