The Latvian Constitutional Court on April 26 opened a case to test whether the hard-won Latvian-Russian border treaty, which was signed in Moscow on March 27, complies with the Latvian Constitution.
Court spokeswoman Lina Kovalevska told BNS that after receiving an application from 21 Latvian lawmakers the court opened the case on the border treaty's compliance with the Article 3 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the territory of the Latvian state defined by international agreements consists of four regions 's Vidzeme, Latgale, Kurzeme and Zemgale.
Before its signing several lawmakers had objected to the treaty because it cedes Abrene, a territory that was part of Latgale before the Soviet annexation of Latvia in 1940, to Russia. The territory has been a de-facto part of the Russian Federation since the 1991 breakup of the USSR, but has become a symbolic cause for right-wing Latvian politicians.
The court will have to prepare the case for hearing in three months' time, but due to the complicated character of the case the deadline can be extended by one or two months. The government and the parliament, meanwhile, have been requested to submit by June 11 a written statement outlining the actual circumstances of the case and legal argumentation.
Constitutional Court chairman Gunars Kutris said the court could hear the lawsuits in the fall.
Meanwhile Latvian lawmakers on April 26 approved in the first reading the ratification of the border treaty with Russia.
The border treaty will take effect after its ratification in the Latvian and Russian parliaments and both sides have exchanged ratification documents.
Initiators of the border treaty bill note that the signing of the document will "facilitate the solution of several issues concerning economic development. The treaty will lay foundations for improvements on the Latvian-Russian border." Although the existing border is functioning, they say settling of the legal issues would help upgrade and improve its infrastructure, as well as resolve the legal problems responsible services encounter at the border.
MPs from Latvia's opposition center-right New Era party, two MPs from the nationalist alliance For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (TB/LNNK) and one lawmaker from the Greens and Farmers Union have contested the Latvian-Russian border treaty before the Constitutional Court.
Imants Paradnieks, a representative of All For Latvia nationalist group had also filed a lawsuit against the border agreement, but his claims were rejected.
