In regards to the planned amendments to the Immigration Law, which would introduce tighter requirements for the issue of residence permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens, the ruling coalition in Latvia has commenced discussions regarding the severity of restrictions and how best to justify restrictions so that it is possible to defend Latvia’s position in the event of a conflict, as Minister of the Interior Kristaps Eklons told newspaper Diena.
As previously reported, the Ministry of the Interior has developed an offer for amendments to the Immigration Law. These amendments provide stricter requirements for the issue of residence permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens. However, the ruling coalition still has not reached an agreement on this.
Members of the National Alliance and Conservative Party have prepared another legislative draft and have submitted it to the Saeima.
Eklons told Diena that
the coalition isn’t completely against it, but discussions on the severity of new measures continue within political circles.
«We at the Ministry of the Interior as the institution responsible for the development of this law are looking as much as we need to from a legislative viewpoint, so that we can defend our country’s position in potential appeals if we breach binding EU directives by introducing new requirements,» said Eklons.
The minister explains that following the adoption of new restrictions for the issue of of residence permits, it is necessary to look for potential threats to national security and risk factors, as well as the factor of preservation of national economy and the balance them accordingly. It may be necessary to evaluate possibilities to divert from certain directives due to national security considerations. At the same time, it is necessary to «keep in mind that we have signed certain game rules, and we have to follow them,» explains the minister.
At the same time, Eklons outlines the fact that the ongoing discussions are political in nature. He said the formal coordination process has yet to receive any major objections from any of the ministries.
«One of the main sides that support the proposed changes is the National Alliance. This is historically a sensitive topic to them. This is why we’re trying to find a professional, political compromise to implement these amendments,» Eklons told the newspaper.
When asked what are the main concerns about this legislative draft from the legal viewpoint, the minister allowed Russian and Belarusian citizens who do not receive extension of their residence permits would have the right to turn to the European Court of Human Rights with a request to review their case to the extent of EU regulations.
When asked if there are any concerns about the ability of interior affairs structures to implement amendments if residence permit recipients have to be reviewed based on very precise criteria as a result of said amendments, Eklons said he believes there is no special need to describe different situations very accurately in the law.
There are as many different situations as there are people, and outlining each and every one in the law presents a high risk of making mistakes.
«I believe this is why we have very capable and experienced security and special services – Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs – which work with the evaluation of visa requests. From documents to the unseen measures – where security services look deeper into a person’s background,» said the minister.
«My vision is that we have to preserve flexibility of the law, that through the careful work of our security services and PMLP we can made individual decisions and maintain balance between national interests and rights of individuals,» explains Eklons.
«The problem with strict regulations is that it is easy to challenge them.»
The Ministry of the Interior has prepared amendment to the Immigration Law that provide for cessation of repeated issue of residence permits to Russian and Belarusian citizens from 30 June 2023 onward. Additionally, proposed regulations will affect local employers’ ability to continue job relations with guest workers from the two countries.
The current transition regulations in the Immigration Law include a restriction for Russian and Belarusian citizens to receive initial residence permits.
The proposed amendments provide for exclusion of the norm under which Latvian citizens and non-citizens who have taken another country’s citizenship are not required to prove their Latvian language skills and regular means of subsistence.
If a citizen or non-citizen of Latvia becomes a citizen of another country but wants to stay and live in Latvia, he or she may request a permanent EU resident status by proving appropriate official language skills and regular means of subsistence.