It’s unlikely there will be a mass expelling of Russian citizens from Latvia, said Minister of the Interior Rihards Kozlovskis in an interview to TV3 programme 900 seconds.
He explained that the ruling of the Constitutional Court of Latvia on the need for Russian citizens to know Latvian language in order to receive a residence permit means Latvia can continue moving in this direction.
The minister said that up to 1 000 people could be expelled from Latvia by the end of November. Nearly 200 people have submitted a request for a review of their departure term.
No one has been forcefully expelled from Latvia so far, and it is unlikely there will be any mass expelling, because individual expelling cases will come into force at different times. People will either leave on their own or try to appeal decisions.
As previously reported, the Constitutional Court ruled the requirement for Russian citizens to prove their knowledge of Latvian language in order to receive a residence permit is in line with the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (PMLP) reached out to the 985 Russian citizens that have to leave Latvia for non-compliance with requirements of the Immigration Law, as the chief of PMLP Maira Roze told LTV programme Rīta panorāma in January.
At the start of January PMLP reported that 1 167 Russian citizens who failed to fulfil requirement of the Immigration Law are at risk of being expelled from Latvia. Roze said that this number remains real. However, notification letters were sent to a small number of people – 985. PMLP does not have any information about them or their opinions regarding expelling orders.
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Latvian minister comments on expelling of Russian citizens
