Parliamentary elections in Latvia were won by the opposition party "Consent" of the Russian-speaking mayor of Riga Nil Ushakov. The Prime Minister of the country considers this victory a threat to the independence of Latvia, and the President said that he would not entrust the formation of a new government to "Consent".

Parliamentary elections in Latvia were won by the opposition party "Consent" of the Russian-speaking mayor of Riga Nil Ushakov. The Prime Minister of the country considers this victory a threat to the independence of Latvia, and the President said that he would not entrust the formation of a new government to "Consent".

Opposition in isolation

On Saturday, elections to the Latvian Seimas (Parliament) were again won by the Social Democrats from the Harmony party. The current leader of the party, Nil Ushakov, back in 2009 became the first Russian mayor of Riga in the history of Latvia. Today he is the most popular politician in the country. His party is traditionally associated with the Russian-speaking electorate. Although it is worth noting that in these elections the Latvian electorate of the party amounted to more than 20%.

So, representatives of 13 parties competed for 100 seats in the country's parliament. The votes of the inhabitants of Latvia were distributed as follows:

The first place belongs to the opposition party "Consent" - 23%. The second - the ruling party "Unity" - 22%. The third place went to the Union of Greens and Peasants, which was supported by 20% of voters. On the fourth with 16.5% nationalist association “All for Latvia! – Fatherland and Freedom/Movement for the National Independence of Latvia.

In general, the overall preponderance remained on the side of the ruling political forces, which includes the parties "Unity", the Union of "Greens" and the nationalists - together they gain more than half of the votes.

That is, it is quite likely that despite the leading position in terms of the number of voters, there are high chances that Consent, like three years ago, will be overboard when forming a government: the right to form a coalition is granted by the president, and the current leadership has a position regarding Russia, cold to say the least.

Thus, on election day, Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma told reporters that if the "Consent" wins, there may be a threat to the independence of Latvia. Soglasie travels to the USA and Brussels, but also travels to Moscow,” the head of the Latvian government explained.

Latvian President Andris Berzins believes that representatives of the parties elected to the 12th Saeima should agree on future cooperation, the composition of the ruling coalition and decide on a candidate for the post of prime minister in about one week. But the head of the republic does not intend to trust the formation of the government to Consent: “It is in my authority to nominate [a candidate for the post of prime minister], but the parties must evaluate who will become the prime minister,” Berzins said, it is pointless to create something that cannot enlist the support of the majority deputies of the Seimas.

The situation in Ukraine has become a reason, and perhaps just a reason to move the latent crisis in Russian-Latvian relations into an active stage. From the side of Latvia, absolutely everything goes into battle: from the ban on entry of Russian singers into the territory of the republic, to the abolition of the right of Russian citizens who have invested significant amounts in the Latvian economy to receive a temporary residence permit. But, given the significant economic dependence of Latvia on Russia, as well as the share of 38% of Russian-speaking residents in Latvia, everything that happens is more like the plot of the fable "The Elephant and the Pug".

Anti-Russian sanctions

In April, Latvia, seriously concerned about its national security because of the events in Ukraine, decided to fight the Kremlin information propaganda: the broadcasting of the RTR-Russia TV channel was suspended for three months. With regard to the First Baltic Channel (the content of the First Channel), an administrative process was initiated. And in the work of "Russia-24" they saw "certain problems." This decision caused a huge wave of indignation on the part of the Russian-speaking population of Latvia.

In May, the Latvian Seimas adopted amendments to the Criminal Law, according to which now for the denial of the "Red Terror" in Latvia they will be imprisoned for five years. One of the authors of the amendments, by the way, Andrei Yudin, a deputy from the Unity party, explained that the novels legally equate the crimes of the Soviet regime with the crimes of the Nazis.

In the summer, on the eve of the annual New Wave festival-competition, which traditionally involves Russian artists, the Latvian Foreign Ministry banned Kobzon, Gazmanov and Valeria from entering the territory of the republic. According to the Latvian department, these figures of Russian culture "contributed to undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine . " After this gesture, the festival management seriously thought about moving the "New Wave" to the territory of Russia: for example, to the Kaliningrad region. Latvian entrepreneurs immediately declared that the loss of the New Wave would cause significant damage to the country's economy. The mayor of Jurmala admitted last year that the competition brings about 14-20 million euros, which go not only to the purse of Jurmala, but also through taxes to the budget of the entire state.

It did not end there: in September, the Saeima adopted amendments to the Law on Electronic Mass Media in the second reading, which effectively prohibited the country's radio stations from rebroadcasting programs from abroad. According to the text of the amendments, 80% of the content of foreign-language, non-Latvian radio stations should be produced in Latvia. The government made no secret of the fact that the new law was aimed precisely at Russian content: “There are a number of radio programs where, without specifying the content, programs created in Russia are massively broadcast. I think this law will encourage more radio stations to switch to working in the state language. And people will not be misled that pro-Russian programs have been created in Latvia,” commented Inara Murniece, head of the Public Affairs Commission at the time.

In October, Latvia decided to switch to heavy artillery: the Saeima supported the initiative to ban Russians from issuing residence permits when buying real estate. It is worth noting that there is no unanimity in the Sejm yet, but for the first time this proposal (which, by the way, was initiated by the nationalist party) was approved by the majority. The issuance of a residence permit is proposed to be banned until "until the situation in Ukraine stabilizes."

Earlier, the security police concluded that Russians who receive a residence permit (and this is the absolute majority among those who wish other nationalities) have economic influence in Latvia, which means they can influence political and economic processes.

Recall that in order to qualify for a residence permit in Latvia, you need to buy real estate in Riga or other major cities of the republic for at least €250,000. Interestingly, before September 1, the minimum investment amount was €143,000, but then, apparently, the Seimas that sold cheap and a place under the sun in a country of the Schengen zone can be sold at a higher price.

Deputies from the Harmony party categorically opposed the initiative to block this investment program, estimating that in the next five years the Latvian economy will suffer damage of 2.5 billion euros because of this. “Unless in the current socio-economic conditions, Latvia has the right to scatter such amounts?” Asks “Consent”.

Neil Ushakov sharply condemned every anti-Russian sanction from the Latvian government, calling them "nonsense." Also, the mayor of Riga is convinced that any EU sanctions against Russia are an absolutely failed business and the only effective way out of the crisis is a diplomatic way.

“The best thing for us right now is President Vladimir Putin. Because if he does not exist, then Navalny will not come to power ... Those who can replace Vladimir Putin to power in Russia will be a very, very bad option for Latvia, ”Ushakov said in September in the studio of the Dozhd TV channel ".

Director of the International Baltic Center for Economic Policy Research (Latvia) Alf Vanags:

- The results were quite predictable, although the Unity party did better than the latest polls predicted. The two new parties (Regional Association - 8 seats and "From the Heart - Latvia" - 7 seats) also showed better results than could be expected a month ago. As for the statement of the Prime Minister of Latvia about the threat to the independence of the country, this is just political rhetoric, which should not be taken seriously.

The government of Latvia will be composed of a ruling coalition, with possible weakening of the influence of "Unity", but the overall policy is likely to remain the same. I do not expect any changes in relations with Russia in connection with the results of the elections to the Sejm. Although it is worth noting that much can always be changed at the level of the European Union. It is likely that Latvia will continue to follow the EU policy in relation to Russia. And, of course, Latvia's political awareness will increase in the first half of 2015, when it takes over the presidency of the European Union.