Former Latvian President Valdis Zatlers believes that the public and political campaign against Latvian citizen Pyotr Aven is no longer about foreign policy but has become an internal political tool. Referring to statements made to Delfi and reported by Diena, Zatlers said that after the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the opinion of its Advocate General, Latvia effectively has no arguments left to continue its case against Aven.
“Initially, the sanctions issue was a matter of foreign policy—a part of the EU’s collective response to Russia’s aggression. But now it has turned into a struggle among Latvia’s political forces and become a domestic political campaign,” Zatlers said in a television interview.
The former president emphasized: “We each live our own lives. Pyotr Aven was born in Russia, served in the Russian government after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and was a highly influential figure in that government. These are facts. In 2010, he was the one who helped improve Latvia–Russia relations because that was a moment when it was possible to do so. Two years later, it all ended,” Zatlers said. “And the decision to impose sanctions on him was based on a single meeting. What has Aven done over the past three years that could in any way be considered support for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine?” he asked.
Has Aven contacted Zatlers directly or indirectly to seek his support? “I’m not someone who can be easily persuaded, bought, or recruited. I don’t deny knowing Pyotr Aven. I don’t deny meeting with him. But in any case, my civic opinion is that we cannot turn our attitude toward one person into a political process,” Zatlers said.
“He lives here in Latvia lawfully—there have been no complaints about him
—and he complies with the sanctions regime. We’ve seen this kind of thing before—when Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga made a comment about the Istanbul Convention, her photos with Putin immediately resurfaced. I have photos with Putin too. Life moves on; things change. The fact is that Aven lives in Latvia, not in Russia, and that he truly has no assets in Russia,” Zatlers added.
The General Court of the European Union, when examining Aven’s and Mikhail Fridman’s request to annul the EU sanctions imposed on them on February 28, 2022, ruled on April 10, 2024, that the Council of the EU had not demonstrated that they supported actions or policies undermining or threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence, nor that they provided material or financial support to Russian officials responsible for the annexation of Crimea.
The court also stated that none of the original legal grounds for placing them under sanctions were sufficiently substantiated, meaning their inclusion on the sanctions list was unjustified. Regarding their continued presence on the sanctions lists, the court found that the EU Council had provided no additional evidence beyond what had been presented initially.
Meanwhile, Latvia remains the only country that appealed the CJEU’s rulings in the Aven and Fridman cases—even though the EU Council’s Legal Service had advised against doing so. Furthermore, at the end of October, the CJEU Advocate General issued an opinion recommending that the Court dismiss Latvia’s appeal and order Latvia to cover legal costs in the joined cases.
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