Law and application: The Russian Federation will raise the issue of the deportation of Russians from Latvia to the OSCE

Russia will discuss the issue of deporting its citizens from Latvia at a meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers in Vienna, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky told Izvestia. According to him, large-scale deportation is unlikely, but Russia is ready to accept those who want to relocate. Earlier, Moscow raised the issue of protecting the rights of compatriots at the UN. Experts believe that appeals to international platforms can be useful in the strategic perspective. There are also economic levers of pressure on Riga, primarily transport restrictions. Earlier, the Latvian authorities announced that 841 Russians who had not confirmed the right to stay in the country should leave the country.

Negotiations on the fate of Russian citizens in Latvia

Russia will raise the issue of the deportation of Russians from Latvia at a meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Vienna in December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky told Izvestia.

"This question has already been raised at meetings of the Permanent Council, of course, it is one of those that will be raised in the OSCE," the diplomat replied.

Photo: Global Look Press/Roberto Pfeil

According to him, in the current realities, it is difficult to discuss these issues with Riga in the framework of bilateral diplomatic contacts.

— It's hard to call it a dialogue, unfortunately. We have stated our position at all levels. The problem is deep, deep—rooted, and we clearly express our attitude, it is also heard in the State Duma," the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

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Russia is "ready to receive those who want to move to the Russian Federation," Dmitry Lyubinsky said. However, he believes that a large-scale deportation of Russian citizens is unlikely to occur, as work is underway to prevent this scenario.

— In fact, the scale and numbers are quite deceptive. We are not talking about a momentary expulsion. This is not reassuring, but there is a deferred deadline of 30 days for the implementation of this decision. And there is a certain set of measures that citizens can take to avoid the worst—case scenario - deportation. I doubt that it will come to a large-scale deportation. Someone will solve these issues, some people are already in Russia, some will leave voluntarily and will be gladly accepted in the Russian regions. Diverse solutions are possible," Lubinsky said.

Photo: Global Look Press/Victor Lisitsyn

The next meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council will be held on December 4-5, 2025 in Vienna, 57 countries are expected to participate. The Russian delegation is also going to arrive, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said earlier.

Russia will use other platforms to solve this problem. For example, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Tatiana Moskalkova, addressed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk.

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Appeals to the OSCE and the UN can really affect the situation, Ivan Melnikov, vice president of the Russian division of the International Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, said in an interview with Izvestia.

— We are counting on the reaction and we really hope that there will be one. We understand that the effect may not be momentary, but still the situation will definitely be better if something is done," the human rights activist said.

Russia, as a responsible member of the international community, will continue to appeal to all international authorities and demand respect for the rights of compatriots. This will make it possible to inform the world community and record violations. However, there is a risk that appeals to international — and in fact, Western — authorities will not give any concrete effects, since the EU itself takes an absolutely anti-Russian position and fully covers the criminal activities of the Latvian government, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of Politics and History of Moscow State University, told Izvestia.

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Will Latvia deport Russians

Earlier, Politico published information that Riga ordered 841 Russian citizens to leave Latvia by October 13. The current version of the Latvian Immigration Law requires Russian citizens to apply for long-term EU resident status, confirm their knowledge of the Latvian language at A2 level and undergo a security and background check in order to legally stay in the country.

Photo: Global Look Press/Christoph Soeder

In particular, when applying for a residence permit in Latvia, applicants with Belarusian or Russian citizenship are required to fill out an additional questionnaire, where they are asked various questions, including about their attitude to their citizenship. The new rules affected about 30 thousand Russians. Most of them fulfilled the requirements, approximately 2.6 thousand Russians left Latvia, but more than 800 Russian citizens were unable to submit the necessary documents on time. The majority of those subject to deportation are pensioners. Many of them have not even received information about this (for example, because they do not use the Internet) and do not know that such steps need to be taken.

The Russian Embassy in Riga noted that these people can be expelled from the country only after a 30-day period from the moment of personal delivery of the relevant decision by an employee of the State Border Guard of Latvia. The authorities of the Baltic Republic do not intend to deport Russians en masse, the decisions will be individual, said the head of the Latvian Interior Ministry, Rihards Kozlovskis. However, individual Russian citizens have already been forced to leave Latvia. For example, on October 15, Latvia expelled 75-year-old poet Lyudmila Mezhins and her husband.

According to Ivan Melnikov, the position of the Latvian authorities may be influenced by the threat of lawsuits in international organizations. For example, if the decisions of the ECHR in specific cases turn out to be in favor of our citizens, then for other people who are at risk of expulsion, this may become a reason to file appropriate lawsuits.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Mikhail Tereshchenko

Against this background, Russia is preparing to accept those who face deportation or who wish to move to our country voluntarily. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has already developed a set of measures to assist such compatriots. The authorities of the Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod regions announced their readiness to receive Russians. The Coordination Center for the Protection of the Rights of Compatriots has also started working with displaced persons.

In addition, Moscow is preparing retaliatory measures of an economic nature. As Izvestia wrote earlier, theoretically, Russia could block transport links with Latvia as a response. Vladimir Shapovalov noted that Latvia is still economically dependent on our country, even in the context of the West's economic war against Russia. Therefore, possible retaliatory measures will damage Latvia's economy.