“A draft law has been sent to the Latvian Parliament (Sejm), which provides for a ban on the purchase of real estate in the country by citizens of Russia and Belarus, as well as legal entities owned by them.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
A draft law has been sent to the Latvian Parliament (Sejm), which provides for a ban on the purchase of real estate in the country by citizens of Russia and Belarus, as well as legal entities owned by them. The Moscow Times writes about this with reference to Delfi. The purpose of the document is to prevent harmful and dangerous activities from the point of view of national interests, as well as the circumvention of sanctions. It is noted that the innovation, if approved, will apply to citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus, companies established in these countries, and those whose real beneficiaries are citizens of these states. Advertisement: According to the document, the ban on the purchase of real estate will not affect people who have received the status of a permanent resident of the European Union or a permit for permanent residence in Latvia based on the law “On Immigration”. “In recent years, we have been purposefully working to strengthen the security and state sovereignty of Latvia, limiting the ability of Russia and Belarus to implement their foreign policy goals in Latvia or to organize influence measures and hybrid attacks. This draft law is another step to ensure protection against possible risks,” – the head of the “New Unity” faction in the Latvian Diet, Edmunds Jurevits, commented on the initiative. According to the parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Justice of Latvia, Lauma Paegkalna, the authorities are acting “preventively” to prevent Russia and Belarus from interfering in the country’s internal affairs in the context of a hybrid war.Advertisement: Latvia is not the first country in Europe that is preparing to introduce restrictions on the purchase of real estate by Russians. Thus, in May 2024, the Ministry of Defense of Finland announced a list of grounds for banning citizens of the Russian Federation from buying real estate in the republic. We will remind: the authorities of Estonia announced the beginning of studying the issue of banning the right to buy real estate in the country by Russians and Belarusians “for security reasons”. In 2023, Lithuania also banned Russians from buying real estate – except in cases where they have a permanent or temporary residence permit, or the right to property was inherited.