A letter to the President and the Prime Minister

Campaign calls for Latvia's eastern border to be closed

The campaign's initiator, Jānis Staris:

“I want Latvians to have their own country, and it is our duty to do everything possible to protect it. I believe that not enough is being done towards this goal – trade with Russia still continues, and sanctioned goods are still transited through Russia (according to figures from the Customs Administration, around 60% of this transit never reaches its destination, remaining in Russia). With such an attitude and such conduct, we are strengthening our enemy. (Yes, exporting quality alcohol to Russia is also unacceptable, because... it raises our enemy's level of comfort.)

We want to draw attention to the fact that there are people in Latgale who find this situation unacceptable, which is why we are holding the campaign “Let's stop feeding the bear!”

Three years have passed since the start of the great war. If anyone still claims they have not had time to reorient themselves, that is a lie! There has been plenty of time to find new markets. In the current geopolitical situation, it is high time to close the border with Russia, as Finland did last year.”

Video from the site of the campaign:

A glimpse
Address by Ināra Groce
Address by Jānis Staris
Address by Juris Viļums
Address by Rūta Dimanta
A letter to Latvian officials

The charity Ziedot.lv, calling people to join the protest:

“Ukrainian mothers are burying their murdered children and desperately searching for the ones who have been stolen. Ukrainian fathers are bleeding to death under Russian missiles. Ukraine's elderly are losing their homes in the twilight of their lives. Meanwhile, the next Russian targets will be our children, our parents, our land – yet the Latvian state is not stopping trade with murderers.”

“Latvian businesses are sending medicines to murderers. Latvijas dzelzceļš is still riding “in the same train” as the Russian railways. Why, after more than three years, are we still unable to cut the umbilical cord with the aggressor, Russia?”

“Latvia does not need any dealings with Russia! Do we want to reach 5% of GDP on defence with money we earn by trading with Russia, with money we obtain by facilitating bloody transit? Why are we willing to take money from murderers?”

Ziedot.lv calls on the government and the Saeima to close the borders with Russia and to ban all trade and transport with Russia.

A report by the Latvian Television news service on the preparations for the campaign

Visual materials from the campaign. Author: Raimonds Platacis. Photo: Madara Bērtiņa