The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia reacted to the statements of the mayor of Daugavpils, the second largest city in the country, Andriys Elksnins, who called Crimea Russian. They emphasized that local officials should respect the official position of the state.
The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia writes about this.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkevichs, emphasized that such statements do not correspond to the official position of the government and the state.
"All local self-government representatives must strictly adhere to Latviaʼs position on foreign policy issues, expressing these positions clearly and unambiguously," he added.
Rinkevichs also noted that Latvia consistently supports Ukraine and does not recognize the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia.
At the same time, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development appealed to the Security Service of Latvia with a request to check the mayor of Elksnin. They reminded that back in March 2014, the Parliament of Latvia condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine and supported Ukrainian territorial integrity.
"Maneuvering and evasive attitude of Elksninš to the expression of support for Ukraine is a signal that makes one question the loyalty of the mayor of Daugavpils to the state of Latvia. I call on the State Security Service to assess Elksninshʼs actions," said Minister Arthurs Toms Pless.
- In an interview with Delfi on November 6, Elksninsh said: "Crimea is part of the Russian Federation." To the question of whether the peninsula was legally included in the Russian Federation, he answered: "I think that this can be discussed after a deeper analysis. Of course, thereʼs a lot of debate about that." The journalist denied this statement and noted that the analysis has already taken place — the countries do not recognize the occupation of Crimea by Russia. Speaking about Russiaʼs responsibility for the tragedy in Bucha, the mayor of Daugavpils said: "In everything that happened, Russia, Ukraine, and the USA are unequivocally responsible."
- The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, responded to such statements by the mayor of the Latvian city of Daugavpils, Andreys Elksninsha. He emphasized that the mayorʼs words do not reflect either the official position of Latvia or the views of the absolute majority of Latvians.