Latvia’s parliament on Thursday took a step toward banning travel agencies from providing tourism services in Russia and Belarus, with the aim of reducing the risks of possible human rights violations of Latvian citizens in those countries, as well as to prevent their recruitment as spies.
The legislature sent proposed amendments to the law on tourism to the relevant committee.
“Travel to Russia and Belarus is currently a security issue,” said Gatis Liepiņš, a parliamentarian from the New Unity party, which initiated the law. “We cannot allow holiday trips to continue to be organized and buses full of our citizens to travel to countries that openly express a desire to occupy Latvia,” he said.
Liepiņš pointed out that Russia arrested 30 Latvian nationals in 2024, while the ability of Latvian institutions in help in such cases is “very limited.”
The ban would apply to all tourism service providers that are registered in Latvia, and would be implemented as part of the sanctions package against Russia and Belarus.
