Current Events > Latvia is going to ask thousands of Russian citizens to leave the country

(+) Yeah! (+)

Up to 6,000 of Russian citizens in Latvia are expected to receive official notices next month asking them to leave the country, according to Ingmrs Ldaka, head of the parliaments Commission on Citizenship, Migration and Public Mobilisation.

"There are 5,000 to 6,000 of them. These are people who have not shown any desire, either to take the exam or to obtain a temporary residence permit. They are silent. According to the current legislation, the Office of Citizenship and Migration will simply have to send them a request to leave the country within three months," he said.

Representatives of the Latvian Interior Ministry confirmed that letters are being prepared. Around 6,000 people will receive them, the ministry said, according to the Elta news agency.

Following Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Latvia decided to ask Russian citizens living in the country to undergo a mandatory Latvian language exam.

This caused mixed reactions in the country that still hosts thousands of Russian citizens who have lived in the country since the 1990 independence from the Soviet Union, but have never obtained the Latvian citizenship. Critics say many of them have failed to integrate into the Latvian society.

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2050380/latvia-to-ask-thousands-of-russian-citizens-to-leave-the-country

Sounds like they've given them plenty of opportunity to integrate into society.

And according to a Latvian on Reddit: "The language test is A2 level. Ive seen those questions and theyre easy enough for a child or a determined adult with 2 weeks of learning. Theyre along the lines of What was barking? A. A dog B. Yesterday morning C. Go to the shop D. To the prime minister

Critics say many of them have failed to integrate into the Latvian society

This is the refrain of all anti immigrant politicians, the fact they're talking about people living there since 1990 pre Soviet dissolution sounds like they effectively already were citizens

What if the prime minister was barking tho?

Not a great precident to set.

While anti-Immigirant and anti-Russian sentiment is no doubt at play here I have to imagine there is some amount of anti-annexing strategy here as well. Russia likes to use large Russian populations in bordering counties as an excuse to annex parts of them.

Doe posted...

This is the refrain of all anti immigrant politicians, the fact they're talking about people living there since 1990 pre Soviet dissolution sounds like they effectively already were citizens

If they've been there since the collapse of the USSR and never bothered to apply for even temporary residence permit status or learn the language, they're not really. We're talking 30+ years.

I fundamentally don't understand people who move into a country, have kids and a family, live there for decades, and never attempt to gain citizenship.

McSame_as_Bush posted...

If they've been there since the collapse of the USSR and never bothered to apply for even temporary residence permit status or learn the language, they're not really. We're talking 30+ years.

They've lived there for 30 years and they're "not really" citizens for not applying for a bureaucratic step that evidently hasn't adversely effected them in absence for 3 decades?

s0nicfan posted...

I fundamentally don't understand people who move into a country, have kids and a family, live there for decades, and never attempt to gain citizenship.

It might seem like a formality to them.

There are couples who spend their lives together without ever getting married because they dont really see the point of it. Same thing could apply with citizenship, if it didnt really make a meaningful difference to their day to day lives.

Good.

Compsognathus posted...

While anti-Immigirant and anti-Russian sentiment is no doubt at play here I have to imagine there is some amount of anti-annexing strategy here as well. Russia likes to use large Russian populations in bordering counties as an excuse to annex parts of them.

this. the go to for russia excusing an incursion is always protection of russians or russian speakers. latvia making people either choose to be latvian or leave is a necessary step to take for a tiny country that imperialist russia has it eyes on, especially for a country that russia historically tries to dominate through exerting pressure and subversion.

if you are looking at this through a north american lens you don't understand the situation they are in.

The_Popo posted...

It might seem like a formality to them.

There are couples who spend their lives together without ever getting married because they dont really see the point of it. Same thing could apply with citizenship, if it didnt really make a meaningful difference to their day to day lives.

When rules are created and you do not follow the rules, you do not beefit in the same way as the people that do follow the rules.
-Are they people that live in Latvia? yes
-Are they legally protected citizens? well did they follow the rules to become one?
No? then no as well.

Good. Fuck russian colonisers.

Yeah their leaders created the antirussian sentiment along with making it a practical security measure since they use it as a pretext to invade.

It only makes sense to take these precaussions. Its hard on those actually seeking to live normally but necessary.

orcus_snake posted...

When rules are created and you do not follow the rules, you do not beefit in the same way as the people that do follow the rules.

I agree. I was simply providing an answer to question of why someone might live somewhere for a long time and never apply for citizenship.

andel posted...

this. the go to for russia excusing an incursion is always protection of russians or russian speakers. latvia making people either choose to be latvian or leave is a necessary step to take for a tiny country that imperialist russia has it eyes on, especially for a country that russia historically tries to dominate through exerting pressure and subversion.

if you are looking at this through a north american lens you don't understand the situation they are in.

Absolutely. And it's not just a Russian thing, The Germans used it to justify what they did in Czechloslovakia, Azerbaijani uses it to fuck with Armenia and Artsakh. It's not really been a tactic we've used in the US since we genocided the natives.

If Latvia doesn't want a population of Russian citizens that Russia can claim is being "opressed" to justify an invasion, I don't blame them. Right now they are just being asked to leave, I believe Latvia has that right.

Forceful expulsion I would not support, especially for people who have been living there for 30 years.

Compsognathus posted...

While anti-Immigirant and anti-Russian sentiment is no doubt at play here I have to imagine there is some amount of anti-annexing strategy here as well. Russia likes to use large Russian populations in bordering counties as an excuse to annex parts of them.

I was thinking the same thing.

Hell, Russia is STILL threatening to do to Moldova ("Transnistria") what they did to Ukraine using the exact same reasoning that is causing Latvia to act.

s0nicfan posted...

Hell, Russia is STILL threatening to do to Moldova ("Transnistria") what they did to Ukraine using the exact same reasoning that is causing Latvia to act.

Should Moldova petition to join NATO?

TonyKojima posted...

Should Moldova petition to join NATO?

They've considered it as far back as 1992, but they baked neutrality into their constitution so it'll be a big undertaking on their part to even be able to request to join:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldova%E2%80%93NATO_relations

s0nicfan posted...

They've considered it as far back as 1992, but they baked neutrality into their constitution so it'll be a big undertaking on their part to even be able to request to join:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldova%E2%80%93NATO_relations

They may regret that.

TonyKojima posted...

They may regret that.

They've found an interesting workaround:

Some Moldovan politicians, including former Prime Minister Iurie Leanc, have also supported the idea of unifying with neighboring NATO member Romania, which Moldova shares a language and much of its history with. A poll in April 2021 found that 43.9% of those surveyed supported that idea.[16]

On 2 February 2023, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Moldova might have Ukraine's fate (meaning to be attacked by Russia) if the Moldovan president Maia Sandu wants Moldova to unite with Romania and join NATO.[

When Dr. Dooms country asks you politely to leave, then you hurry up and gtfo while you still have the chance. Doom doesn't fuck around.

Oh well, should've taken the smallest amount of effort and taken the test

Doe posted...

They've lived there for 30 years and they're "not really" citizens for not applying for a bureaucratic step that evidently hasn't adversely effected them in absence for 3 decades?

They couldn't take the most basic of steps? What does that say about what they consider themselves?

McSame_as_Bush posted...

They couldn't take the most basic of steps? What does that say about what they consider themselves?

We don't even know what the process is like, the ease of access, or what paperwork might be needed to go through with it. For the record, it says absolutely jack shit about what they consider themselves.