Today, on August 11, in an official statement, The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia recognized Russia’s violence against the civilians of Ukraine and other countries as terrorism, and Russia itself as a state supporting terrorism.
The Parliament of Latvia says that Russia’s targeted military attacks on Ukrainian civilians and public space was also previously adopted by the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
It is pointed out that Russia is purposefully targeting Ukrainian civilians, using suffering and intimidation as a tool in its attempts to demoralize the Ukrainian people and the armed forces, to paralyze the state’s ability to act in order to occupy Ukraine.
Politicians note that Russia implements this violence to achieve its political goals.
The document also invites other like–minded countries to express the opinion that Russia is a state that supports terrorism.
Members of Parliament categorically condemn Russia’s military aggression and large–scale invasion of Ukraine, carried out with the support and involvement of the Belarusian regime, and call on the Euro–Atlantic community and its partners to urgently strengthen and implement comprehensive sanctions against Russia to stop the Russian army’s ability to continue its military aggression in Ukraine.
Politicians also encourage to increase military, financial, humanitarian and diplomatic support to Ukraine and to support initiatives that condemn Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
It is also appeals to bring the perpetrators to justice, to isolate Russia from international and regional organizations, as well as to adopt equivalent decisions and establish equivalent sanctions against Belarus as a supporter of the aggressor.
Parliament’s statement calls on the European Union member states to immediately stop tourism and limit the issue of entry visas to citizens of Russia and Belarus.
Members of Parliament mention all the victims of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine–thousands of civilians and defenders of Ukraine–and also express solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
The parliamentarians note that since the Russian military attack on Ukraine on February 24, 12 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes and more than five countries have had to leave theirs.
The statement states that since 2014, Russia has militarily, financially and politically supported violent separatism and violence against civilians in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, as well as in the occupied Crimean Peninsula.
The Parliament recognized Russia as a state supporting terrorism also due to Russia’s long–term support and financing of terrorist regimes and organizations.
It is the largest supplier of arms to the Assad regime in Syria.
Russia has carried out terrorist attacks in sovereign countries, which included poisoning Skripal family on the territory of the United Kingdom and the downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17, in which 298 people lost their lives.
Members of Parliament reminds of Russian forces consistently targeting civilians in Ukraine, including a deliberate attack on a theater in Mariupol that killed around 600 people, rocket strikes on a residential area near Odesa that killed at least 21 people, and an attack on a shopping center in Kremenchuk that killed 19 civilians.
The parliamentarians refer to human rights groups and international monitoring missions numerous reports about atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces against Ukrainian civilians, including torture, rape, murder and mass detention of civilians in so–called filtration centers, as well as mass deportations.
The announcement was also made in response to the attack by Russian forces on Olenivka prison, in which more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war died.
The MPs also reacted to the Russian missile attack on the port of Odesa on July 23, which happened less than 24 hours after the agreement signed by Ukraine and Russia through Turkey and the UN on resuming the export of grain blocked in Ukraine across the Black Sea.
«With this attack, Russia demonstrates its contempt for its obligations, the international order and its institutions, as well as deliberately deepens the global food crisis, which will cause hunger and suffering all over the world,» it is said in the statement.
Members of Parliament emphasize the immoral and illegal nature of the tactics chosen by Russia, which use widespread use of especially cruel, imprecise weapons that maim and cause special suffering.«Russia, by using this type of ammunition, violates international norms. Russian forces in Ukraine are using internationally banned cluster munitions to sow fear and kill civilians indiscriminately,» emphasizes the politicians of the Parliament, who remind that Latvia recognizes Russia’s actions in Ukraine as targeted genocide against the Ukrainian people.