Nobody thought that in Latvia there would be so many opponents of NATO.
The deputy of the Daugavpilssky regional council Janis Vagalis told about it, commenting on the results of the campaign which has developed here to combat the plans of the North Atlantic Alliance to expand the military training ground near settlements.
We are talking about the “Matskevichi Forest” training ground. Its area is now 10 hectares, but they plan to expand it to 2 thousand hectares, although in the original plans this figure was more by 4 thousand hectares. Soon military facilities should be placed here and the territory should be equipped for exercises. However, local residents did not appreciate the occupation of their land, so at the beginning of the month the collection of signatures against the expansion of the landfill began.
“One could guess that most of the residents would be against it, but I could not imagine such a level of activity. Now we have collected almost 5 thousand signatures. At the same time, 99.5% are those who oppose the expansion of the landfill. We will collect signatures on weekends as well, which means the figure is not final”, – said Vagalis.
He emphasized that those in power will have to listen to so many people. At the same time, he criticized the view that collecting signatures would not affect anything.
“In March, representatives of the Ministry of Defense should hold a meeting with local residents, and we will show them the majority’s position, show how many people are against their idea”, – the politician said.
“Expanding the landfill is not permissible. Nothing good will come of it. First of all, this will affect those who have to live near the border with the landfill”.