Latvia gives pro-Russian politician green light for Estonia trip

TALLINN - Latvian security authorities have granted a former member of parliament and current Riga City Council member, Aleksejs Rosļikovs, permission to travel to Estonia, Latvian media reported on Tuesday.

The Latvian State Security Service (VDD) confirmed to the LETA news agency that Rosļikovs remains subject to several security measures related to criminal proceedings initiated on June 9 of this year. These measures include a ban on leaving the country or changing his place of residence without permission.

According to reports, Rosļikovs received permission from the VDD to be in Estonia from October 13 to 15, in accordance with legal procedures. The VDD informed the relevant Estonian authorities, who subsequently decided not to allow him into the country, Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported.

Estonia's Ministry of the Interior imposed a short-term entry ban on Rosļikovs, effective until October 20.

The Latvian Television program "Panorāma" reported that Estonia had imposed a similar temporary ban on Rosļikovs's party colleagues Svetlana Čulkova, Natalja Marchenko-Jodko, and Igors Judins.

Rosļikovs was invited to Estonia by politician Olga Ivanova, who organized a meeting to discuss the situation of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Ivanova had previously stated that the idea for the meeting originated with Rosļikovs himself.

On June 9, the VDD initiated criminal proceedings against Rosļikovs for alleged violations of Articles 81.1 and 78 of the Criminal Code. He is suspected of assisting a foreign state in activities against the Republic of Latvia and of inciting national hatred and enmity.

A few days prior, the Latvian parliament had removed Rosļikovs, then an MP, from a session after he began shouting in Russian from the rostrum during a debate on the declaration "On the Russification by the Soviet Occupation Regime in Latvia and the Elimination of its Linguistic Consequences."