Zhirinovsky threatens Latvia

  • 2004-04-01
  • By TBT staff
RIGA - "Latvia will be destroyed," spat Russia's Vladimir Zhirinovsky, deputy state chairman of the Duma, the country's lower house of Parliament.

The right-wing firebrand made his threat in relation to Latvia's minority schools, claiming that the country would be destroyed if it harmed ethnic Russians or Russian-language schools.
Zhirinovsky went on to say that terrorists would be used if need be, and that nothing would remain of Latvia or its language in the future.
In an interview soon after with an Estonian newspaper, Zhiri-novsky said that if a war were to break out between NATO and Russia an attack would not be directed against Brussels but against Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn.
In an interview with the daily Latvijas Avize, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Brian Carlson joined in condemning the threats from the populist Russian politician.
"We do not laugh about Zhirinovsky. It is especially irresponsible to make such statements at the time when the EU discusses the fight against terrorism after the tragedy of March 11. People who do this put themselves in the same company as Osama bin Laden, ETA, Al Qaeda, the November 17 group, Red Brigades and similar terrorist organizations," the U.S. ambassador told the newspaper.