Russian ambassador’s comments ‘uncivil’

On Monday, Feb. 24, Latvian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Andrejs Pildegovics talked with Russian Ambassador to Latvia Alexander Veshnyakov following his remarks about the former President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, and pointed to their improper character and unacceptable language, reports LETA.

''Remarks by the Russia ambassador regarding the former Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga are unacceptable and deserve condemnation; diplomats should remain civil,'' Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said in a statement.

The Russian ambassador had recently expressed his dissatisfaction with comments made by Vike-Freiberga, who said that the Kremlin is directly responsible for the violence and events taking place in Kiev.

''It is a shame that politicians, including former ones, are not made to go through drug tests like athletes,'' the Russian Embassy stated in its Twitter account, reacting to Vike-Freiberga's comments on the TV3 investigative news program Neka Personiga.

In the TV3 interview, the former Latvian president allowed the possibility that after the conclusion of the Sochi Olympics, Russian President Vladmir Putin will give the order to invade Ukraine, and use ''protecting Russians'' as its excuse, just like it did when it invaded Georgia in 2008.

Vike-Freiberga also criticized the ''weak'' international reaction to the now overthrown Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, and that the Russian president will not hesitate to use this to his advantage.

''This whole scenario developed and played out in exactly the way how I would have seen Russia plan it. And now we have come to the scenario which I have been afraid of most, as we are seeing attempts to split the country,'' Vike-Freiberga added, saying that if the new Ukrainian authorities attempt to use force to keep the country together, this will be reason enough for Russia to intervene and would become an identical scenario to what happened in Georgia.