The Legal Committee of the Latvian Saeima (parliament) voted on Thursday to give third-reading approval to a new bill that would ban the states of Russia and Belarus and their citizens from acquiring real estate in Latvia.

The same ban would also be applied to legal entities that are registered in the two countries, as well as to legal entities in which citizens of the two nations own at least 25% of share capital, or in which Russian or Belarusian citizens are beneficial owners. The rules will also apply to other legal formations that have been established in Russia or Belarus.

The prohibition will only apply to transactions which are concluded after the law takes force.

Authors of the bill note that Russia is at war in Ukraine and is waging hybrid war against democratic and sovereign states which do not support and condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Latvia is one such country.

One instrument which Russia brings to bear to engage in non-military influence and hybrid warfare is to acquire real estate in other countries indirectly. Russia has used the presence of Russian citizens in foreign countries as a pretext for going to war, the excuse being that those citizens need protection. The Saeima has already noted that Russia’s war against Ukraine means a particularly focus on the protection of Latvia’s national security, and that calls for new measures to do so.

The bill will require final reading approval by the full parliament.

Source: BNS

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