European Parliament recommended to strip former Riga mayor Nil Ushakov of parliamentary immunity, reports RuBaltic.ru
According to political analyst Alexander Nosovich, the decision was taken under pressure from the Latvian authorities, where a criminal case was filed against the former mayor.
“Ushakov’s deal with the Latvian authorities, under which the ‘Russian mayor’ leaves for Brussels and thus avoids criminal prosecution, is no longer valid. A year before the parliamentary elections, the political regime in Latvia needs a ‘clean-up’ of the Russian movement, including the part of it that has made every effort to demonstrate loyalty and dream of becoming one with this political regime”, – said Nosovic.
Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau of Latvia accused Neil Ushakov of several articles of the Criminal Code.
The European Parliament is due to consider denying Ushakov parliamentary immunity as early as this month.
“Latvia’s request will apparently be granted: the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee has recommended deputies to vote in favour of stripping Ushakov of his parliamentary immunity. So it is highly probable that the former “Russian mayor” of Riga will soon go to jail. He will be prosecuted not just as a corrupt criminal, but as a ‘Russian spy”, – said the political analyst.
Besides, there has already been a precedent of this kind in Latvia. Earlier, the Saeima deprived Russian Party MP Janis Adamsons of parliamentary immunity, after the special services accused him of spying for Russia. Judging by Ushakov’s prosecution, Latvian authorities have set their sights on a complete defeat of Latvia’s “Russian party” by next year’s parliamentary elections.
“The main function of the system opposition in the Saeima and the ruling party in Riga is to quench the protest sentiments of the Russian-speaking population and accustom them to the state ideology. In Baltic political parlance, this phenomenon is called “proper Russians” or “good Russians”. There is also an obscene definition of “integrists”. That is, Russians who act as “advocates” of the anti-Russian policy of Baltic nationalists and persuade Russia not to interfere, and local compatriots not to resist. In the most radical version, Latvian “good Russians” are bigger Russophobe Latvians than Russophobe Latvians themselves. But in this version they immediately become pariahs for the Russian community of Latvia and cannot be elected during elections”, – states expert