Latvian immigration authorities ask TV Rain to explain grounds for employees’ Latvian work visas

Maira Roze, chief of Latvian Citizenship and Migration Affairs, says that the exiled Russian broadcaster TV Rain must explain what its employees with Latvian work visas will be doing in the country after the revocation of TV Rain’s broadcasting license.

Roze told the Latvian news outlet Rus.LSM that 13 TV Rain employees had been granted Latvian work visas:

Their purpose was to enable broadcasting. Recipients include directors, camera operators, and other workers. This is why, now that the license has been revoked, we need to see whether the grounds for issuing a visa are still intact.

Roze explained that TV Rain’s loss of broadcasting license should not automatically result in expelling the team from Latvia:

We were told that TV Rain plans to continue publishing its YouTube content, and this, in a sense, is also a form of broadcasting. This is why we have written to this company, with questions about each person. They need to explain what each of them is going to do, and whether the grounds for issuing a visa are still there.

Roze emphasized that, if the Latvian Security Service decides that any particular employee poses a danger to state security, her or his visa will be immediately terminated. In general though, she said, decisions about the visas granted to TV Rain employees will depend on the media company’s clarifications, due by December 20.

The termination of a work visa, Roze explained, does not mean that the person must leave Latvia immediately. “If the person does not pose a threat to state security, a visa can be granted on humanitarian grounds, if applicable” she said.

• Earlier, Latvian authorities banned the fired TV Rain host Alexey Korostelev from entering Latvia. Korostelev lives and works remotely in the Republic of Georgia. He had no Latvian visa.
• On December 6, TV Rain lost its broadcasting license, following Korostelev’s on-air remarks about “helping” the Russian mobilized, which cast doubt on the sincerity of TV Rain’s consistent anti-war position and its criticism of the Russian regime.
• Meduza has issued a statement in support of TV Rain, later signed by hundreds of media professionals.

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