Latvian President responds to putin's threats

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics has commented on russian dictator vladimir putin's threats against the Baltic country, where he said that if Riga continues "the current policy towards the russian-speaking population," then the authorities will face "appropriate attitude within the country."

Rinkevics said this in an interview with Neatkarigas.

The head of state called this a policy of intimidation, recalling that narratives are common in russian propaganda that all their citizens or those belonging to the "russian world" are abused.

"In fact, this is an attempt to hide all the atrocities that the russian federation is committing in Ukraine. It was not even a direct threat - it was an attempt to stir up and call for some anti-government actions by those who still feel part of the "russian world" and who think that they still live in the russian empire," said Rinkevics.

According to him, recently he has noticed that there are attempts to divide not only Latvian society, but also Western society, in order to undermine the support of Ukraine in various ways - in practical, political and moral terms.

"We all know well that russians living in Latvia are not discriminated against, but there are quite legitimate requirements to know the language of the country, and this is the basis of any country. We see that the russian federation does not have a democratic discussion with those who have a different opinion, or with those who cannot communicate in russian. From this point of view, this is part of a strategic narrative dominated by attempts at intimidation," Rinkevics emphasized.

The President of Latvia assured that Riga will do everything possible to mobilize the EU and NATO for both military and financial support of Ukraine.

"Yes, it is more difficult, more skeptics appear, and this is used by both russian diplomacy and the propaganda machine, trying to tell us that the support for Ukraine is over, it is about to give up, and you will be next - fear, sit under the Christmas tree and expect a terrible wolf!" Rinkevics said.

He added that instead of being afraid, the Latvian authorities should do the job they were entrusted with as best as possible: national defense, the internal affairs system, health care, etc. The President stressed that it is also important to support Ukraine - not only in a material way, but also morally.

Recall that earlier Rinkevics called on the European Union to buy shells for Ukraine outside of its borders, since the European Union itself does not have time to provide artillery ammunition according to the schedule by March.