Latvia is not in danger in near future, even in current geopolitical situation - Kozlovskis

RIGA - Latvia is not threatened by the current geopolitical situation in the near future, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) told Latvian Television last night.

He admitted that geopolitics is so fragile at the moment that it is difficult to say what is in store for Latvia. However, the State Security Service is coping very well, regularly monitoring the situation after the conflict in Israel. Latvia is therefore safe compared to those EU Member States where violent demonstrations are taking place.

As regards the flow of migrants, Kozlovskis pointed out that the flow of refugees poses risks in any case, and that working with third countries is quite complicated. In his assessment, Latvia's biggest risk is the Belarusian border, but even here the migrant flows are not on the same scale as in Europe.

At the same time, Kozlovskis believes that the procedure for assessing asylum seekers should be speeded up. At present, it takes six months and is planned to be changed so that these people do not have to stay in the country of asylum for a long time.

He also informed that currently 3,500 Russian citizens in Latvia have been asked to leave Latvia. Currently, the persons have contacted the Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs, explaining why they did not react earlier. Each case is assessed individually, but Kozlovskis admits that there might be cases where they could be allowed to stay.