The Latvian police will bring checkpoints near the embassy in Riga, where they will find out if the residence permits of Russians living in the country are in order.
Latvia intends to check the residence permits of all Russian citizens who go to vote at the embassy in the capital Riga in the Russian presidential elections. Latvia can expel them from the country even immediately if the residence permit issues are not in order.
“There are mobile checkpoints around the embassy, with which we intend to check whether Russian citizens have the right to reside legally in Latvia”, police chief Armands Ruks told TV3 Latvija according to news agency AFP.
According to AFP, the authorities are also monitoring the voting queue of Russians in case some of them get excited in the middle of everything to praise Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.
“We have zero tolerance for anyone who takes the opportunity to try to justify Russia's aggression and war crimes against Ukraine,” Ruks said.
A significant Russian minority lives in Latvia, which belongs to the EU and NATO. Latvia ruled a year ago that Russians living in the country must attend Latvian language courses if they do not master the language.
Refugees from Ukraine or EU citizens living in Latvia are not subject to the language requirement.
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