“Despite clear recommendations … not to travel to Russia or Belarus, either in the interests of the state or for reasons of personal safety, the number of people going there continues to grow,” said Ainars Latkovskis, chairman of the National Security Commission at the parliament.
Russian and Belarusian intelligence services actively spy on and attempt to recruit Latvians on the territory of those countries, Latkovskis added. He also noted that Latvia has limited capacity to assist its citizens who encounter trouble while there.
The new law also prohibits Russian and Belarusian citizens from owning critical infrastructure in Latvia. To work on such infrastructure, they will now need clearance from an intelligence agency.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has also intensified its hybrid warfare against EU countries, including sabotage targeting critical infrastructure.
