Latvian political party Harmony leader Jānis Urbanovičs has taken notice of Daugavpils mayor Andrejs Elksniņš’s recent statements and has invited him to consider his remainder in the party.
Elksniņš’s recent statements in relation to the war in Ukraine and Crimea have caused a wide resonance in Latvia. In his interview to Delfi TV programme Kāpēc?, Elksniņš was also critical of Harmony’s work and failed run in the 14th Saeima elections, adding, among other things, that the party did not want to win and behaved more like «a fat cat sitting next to a bowl of cream».
«Andrejs Elksniņš clearly had a good long look in the mirror before making conclusions about lazy cats that didn’t want to win in Saeima elections,» Urbanovičs ironically concluded about what Daugavpils mayor said in his interview.
The party’s leader stressed that self-criticism after what happened is warranted for the party’s chairman, his vices, as well as the mayor of the city in which Harmony had the worst loss. Every member of the party should self-criticise. Members should think more about what they can do for the party, rather than what the party can do for them.
«In this analysis of future actions, I am convinced the majority of members use ‘us’ rather than ‘they’ – the lazy cats that didn’t want to win. But if someone in Harmony thinks the platform is no longer viable for a future political career after just one loss, they should voice their position clearly and consider their remainder in the party,» said Urbanovičs.
The party’s leader also reminded that Harmony has made its position on the Russian-Ukrainian war very clear, stressing that
justification of aggression – directly or indirectly is not compatible with membership in Harmony.
As previously reported, Harmony failed to pass the 5% barrier in the 14th Saeima elections and failed to enter the parliament. Election results turned out poor for the party even in regions in which members are in power, such as Daugavpils.
Following his interview to Delfi TV, Elksniņš was invited by the State Security Service (VDD) to provide explanations. VDD does not provide more detailed comments on this matter.
VDD reminds that Crimea is still considered part of Ukraine despite the continued Russia occupation of the peninsula. In response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014, the European Union imposed sanctions on the country for breaching Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.
As previously reported, Latvia’s Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development has asked VDD to evaluate Elksniņš’s take on Crimea.
The mayor of Daugavpils said in an interview to Delfi TV that «Crimea is now part of the Russian Federation».
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At the same time, he said Latvia’s chosen foreign policy course remains binding to him.
At a press-conference held on Tuesday, 8 November, Elksniņš provided an explanation to the statement he gave Delfi earlier – that Crimea is now part of Russia. «I said Crimea is basically under Russian rule now – there are Russian laws and institutes of power there,» he said.
Daugavpils mayor mentioned that, considering Crimea’s legal status from the perspective of international law, there is a number of UN General Assembly resolutions in place, and Latvia’s position was formulated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and proposal to end Crimea’s occupation and declaring the referendum of 2014 as null and void.