#Mūrniece #statements #Shleser #Kristopan #touched #heart #families #today
At the session of the Saeima, some members were reprimanded today for making inappropriate statements in connection with the deportations or deportations of the population carried out in Latvia during the Soviet occupation.
While debating the amendments to the Immigration Law in relation to the requirements for knowledge of the national language for Russian citizens living in Latvia, MP Viktorija Pleškāne, while mentioning deportations, also pointed out that after the restoration of independence, 300,000 people “deported themselves” to other countries due to the policies implemented in Latvia.
After the politician’s statements, the leader of the session, the member of the Saeima Speaker, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica (JV), stated that she was forced to remind that the code of ethics for deputies states that a deputy is based on facts, their honest interpretation and reasoning.
Kalniņa-Lukaševica emphasized that it is not acceptable to belittle and minimize the importance and volume of deportations from the Saeima podium. “Let me remind you that in the deportations of 1941, 15,400 people were taken out of Latvia in one night, and in the deportations of 1949, 42,149 people were deported from Latvia in one night,” said the member of the Saeima Speaker.
Even before Pleškāne’s speech, the leader of the “Latvija first” party, Ainārs Šlesers, in connection with the amendments on requiring knowledge of the national language, stated, among other things, that the term “collective responsibility” was very often used in the Soviet Union. “So, if someone in your family has done something bad, then everyone is responsible. Who were sent to Siberia in their time? Let’s accept those whose family had done something against the Soviets. So that’s how it was, right? Of course, innocent people have been sent away, but the idea was collective responsibility,” Shlesser said.
Shlesser also expressed that more than 30 years have passed since Latvia regained its independence, and the generations are already starting to change. The politician claimed that many pensioners would rather have a heart attack than pass a language exam, and that these people are not a threat to Latvia’s security.
MP Ināra Mūrniece (NA) responded to what Shleser said, saying that the draft law is about security, not about deportations and collective responsibility. The politician emphasized that her family has been deported twice. Mūrniece expressed her hope that “absurd and stupid” statements about the people’s suffering and deportations will no longer be heard from the Saeima tribune.
Later in the debate, MP Vilis Kristopans (LPV) said that on March 25, 1949, his grandfather, grandmother, mother, father, and brothers were put in a wagon and taken to the Omsk region in the Soviet Union.
At the same time, Kristopans pointed out that after the restoration of Latvia’s independence, several hundreds of thousands of people left, “some of whom had their house or apartment taken away by the bank and were still saddled with debts”. “Isn’t it the same deportation? And you, the National Union, were in the nth governments, and as a result of your actions several hundreds of thousands have been deported in the same way,” emphasized the deputy.
Kristopans emphasized that he does not support these amendments regarding the requirement of knowledge of the national language, as he is categorically against retaliation against some part, including the elderly.
Parliamentarian Jānis Dombrava (NA), reacting to Pleškāne’s statements, assumed that the politician plans to follow the example of former deputy Gloria Grevcova, possibly violating the article of the Criminal Law regarding the denial, justification and trivialization of genocide, war crime.
“Something similar is heard here from Mr. Kristopanas. Stop doing these things here! It is not the place in the Saeima where you try to trivialize the events that happened against the Latvian people during the Soviet occupation and also during the occupation of Nazi Germany, with the events that have happened In Latvia after the restoration of independence, where people have made voluntary decisions,” emphasized Dombrava.
Pleškāne answered him, stating both that there was occupation and deportations, and that “because of your government, precisely because of your decision-making, we lost and are losing people” who left Latvia due to economic conditions.
Deputy Artūrs Butāns (NA) said that he was ashamed of what he had to hear from the Saeima rostrum about deportations. The politician noted that the Migration Commission has presented data that shows that it is the older generation that “best, most successfully, most actively” passes the language requirements.
During his repeated speech, Shleser called to think about what decision the Saeima is making now. Citing examples, the politician explained that knowledge of the Latvian language cannot be used to assess loyalty, and called for solving real problems. Similarly, Kristopans later spoke a second time, explaining his position.
In her answer, Mūrniece expressed her regret that Shlesser and Kristopan did not take the opportunity to apologize during the second appearance. “I don’t understand why we here, more than 30 years after the restoration of independence, have to despise the tragic history of our own people. I want to say that you really spat in the hearts of many families today,” said Mūrniece.
As reported, the Saeima today conceptually supported the amendments to the Immigration Law, with which the requirement of knowledge of the national language is planned to be applied to an additional few thousand Russian citizens.
