“Citizenship cannot be revoked by law. If we go down that path, all kinds of political foolishness can be done,” said Gunārs Kūtris, Chair of the Saeima Committee on Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion, former Constitutional Court judge and Court President, in an interview with currenttime.tv, commenting on the Progressives initiative to revoke Latvian citizenship from Pjotrs Avens.
“If any deputy or party has new information — fine, it must be verified. But if we want to remain a state governed by the rule of law, then bring evidence, and in the end the court will decide. Citizenship is an important matter — it is a person’s connection to a specific country,” Kūtris emphasized.
The former Constitutional Court chairman also stressed that the state cannot simply grant citizenship one day and revoke it the next.
“These are stable relations with the state, and revocation must be based on very serious arguments,” said the experienced lawyer and politician.
As previously reported by BNN, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (New Unity) also pointed out that
citizenship revocation is an administrative, not a political process, as defined by law.
Under the law, the decision and relevant procedures are carried out by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP), based on the opinion of the national security services.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Protection Bureau (SAB), responsible for the case’s advancement, previously stated that it does not make public its communication or information exchanges with Latvian or international institutions regarding this matter.
Amendments to the Citizenship Law, adopted in April 2023, allow Latvia to revoke citizenship from any person who has provided significant financial, material, propagandistic, technological, or other support to states or individuals who have committed actions such as genocide, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, or war crimes that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence, or constitutional order of democratic countries.
Citizenship may also be revoked if the person themselves has participated in such acts.
However, the EU General Court, in its decision, ruled that the Council of the EU’s arguments do not establish that Pjotrs Avens and Mikhail Fridman supported actions or policies undermining or threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, or independence, nor that they provided material or financial support to Russian officials responsible for the annexation of Crimea.
Avens obtained Latvian citizenship in 2016, and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he has resided in Latvia with his family.
Read also: Avens: Latvian Minister is trying to “cement” my place on the sanctions list