President of Latvia supports unilateral decision to ban russian grain imports to the country without waiting for European sanctions
Kyiv • UNN
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs supports a unilateral ban on russian grain imports. This decision is seen as a way to counter russia's use of food as a hybrid weapon.
President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs supports Latvia's unilateral decision to ban imports of russian grain without waiting for a joint decision of the European Union. According to UNN, presidential adviser Martins Dregeris told LETA.
Details
During a press conference, the Latvian president commented on the issue of russian grain imports.
This way of trading supports the russian military machine and affects our farmers. We can show documents that it is russian grain, but it is obvious that some of it was stolen from Ukrainian territory that is now temporarily occupied by russia
He noted that a large number of EU countries do not want to impede trade with russia, for example, in fertilizers, food of all kinds, and grain, so it is difficult to include a ban on grain imports in the sanctions list.
According to his data, Latvia imported 280 million euros worth of russian goods, Estonia - 34 million euros, Lithuania - 123 million euros, and Poland - 221 million euros. Rinkēvičs emphasized that if you look at the volume of trade, you can see a threatening trend - circumvention of sanctions with the help of third countries. He did not name these countries, but noted that one citizen of such a country began to buy several pieces of equipment. The President emphasized that the Baltic states are actively addressing this issue, but a difficult discussion with European partners is underway.
He also emphasized that russia uses food and fertilizers as a hybrid weapon. The Latvian government is in the process of calculating the impact of russian grain on Latvia. It is expected to be presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the near future.
Context
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Latvia is the second largest importer of russian agricultural and food products to the EU after Spain. In January-October 2023, Latvia imported 12% of the total value of EU imports from russia, ranking second among EU member states.
At the same time, a ban on the import and transit of Russian grain could result in a loss of 100 million euros for Latvia's port and railroad industries.