Call for solidarity from the Latvian Left: Let Vlad Stay!

Heckle is troubled to hear news from Latvia, where our friends in a Riga-based social-centre project called “Maiznica” are facing repression from state security services and the expulsion of one of their members from the country. In solidarity, we are sharing a press release from the Maiznica Collective to spread the news to a wider audience, to denounce the actions of the Latvian state, and to support the demands of the group for Vladislav Romanenko to be able to return to the country. Read the statement below, and share it with your friends and comrades.

A left wing activist is being deported from Latvia. 

On Tuesday 20 May a left wing activist and a member of a social centre and movement Maiznica Vladislav Romanenko (Vlad) received a letter from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia with a decision to blacklist and deport Vlad from Latvia.

The reasons for such decisions are based on a secret report by State Security Service of Latvia, but no laws were referred to, the only thing being mentioned is that Vlad holds extreme left wing views. Vlad, originally a Russian citizen, has lived in Latvia for 8 years, is doing a master’s degree in Digital Humanities, and owns a flat with his Latvian fiancée. Despite this, the Latvian State Security Service deemed it necessary to deport him, with just a week’s warning, and with no charges mentioned.  

Despite being a member of the EU and positioning itself as a democratic free state (as opposed to Russia, Belarus and Hungary), Latvia lacks tolerance for left wing discourse, equating any public talk where Marx or Socialism are mentioned as anti-government activity, Kremlin sponsored rhetoric or even terrorism. Even though formally a Socialist Party exists, and some progressive elements took their step to the parliament, there is still a lot of pressure both from the security services, police and public opinion, which equates anything left wing to Soviet Union and then to Russia and Putinism. 

As a result of that, there are currently no left wing communities, organisations or spaces. Maiznica collective  aimed at changing it and to de-marginalize critical, anti-colonial, anti-imperialist,non-commercial, autonomous and systematic discourses and approaches, as the collective also participates in Riga Anarchist Bookfair and For Free Palestine movement. It is also aimed at building a third non-commercial space where people can watch films, cook, socialize or make events for free, with typical events being board games evenings, screenprinting workshops, films nights, and other non-political events. While we can only speculate on specific reasons for deportations, Vlad has been an active member of Maiznica, which is likely to be the primary reason for such decision, along with him holding Russian citizenship.  

Maiznica has also been under surveillance from the Security Service for the last couple of months. After feeling conflicted and confused on why the state ordered him to spy on harmless communities, Kaspars Rozitis confessed on Facebook to have spied on all Mazinica events since April 25, while also revealing some details of cooperation with Security Services and facts of manipulation by them. 

Maiznica has never supported or done anything violent and were acting within the laws of Latvia and keeping discussions within the “limits” allowed by the “academic topics”. Though the events were deliberately covering non-mainstream topics, Maiznica stands firmly against hatred, violence and is actively building a safe space where anyone who comes without hatred could be heard and respected. 

Vlad has been an active member of Latvian society, falling in love with the city of Riga, learning Latvian, organising book and film clubs, volunteering and supporting Ukraine, planning to get a Latvian citizenship and already successfully having applied for cancellation of his Russian citizenship. On 20th of May Vlad had to leave his home and become unemployed overnight, leaving behind also his fiance who had a back surgery on the same day. 

In any democratic and free country every person has a right for the freedom of self-expression , thought and assembly. That’s why the decision is now appealed and the court is scheduled on 8th of July 11:00, as we would press on the breach of freedom of speech, assembly and unjustified policing of the left wing movement. 

We want to spread this story to demonstrate the deeply worrying state of affairs in Latvia and how different the political climate can be within the EU, and how many obstacles there can be for even basic common sense organising in what seems like a free and democratic small country. We call for international solidarity with the cause and ask to spread the awareness around, as international outreach and opinion still have some substantial weight in Latvia. Activists, workers and all those who do not wish to sit back and just look at the attack on the hard earned civil rights, liberties and democratic principles, can’t win without the network and international support. 

Vlad’s expulsion is currently being contested in court, and a decision on his appeal will be made on the 18th July. In the meantime, Maiznica are keeping up their campaign for their comrade to be allowed home, and they want to raise the issue in as many places as possible. They want to expose to the world how Latvia, an EU country and a supposedly “democratic” state, is taking notes from the Russian playbook and using spies against social movements and activists, and they want to bring international pressure on the government to reverse the deportation.

If you want to find out more about the Maiznica Collective, their social centre and the campaign in solidarity with Vlad, please get in touch with them on their Instagram at:

https://www.instagram.com/maiznica60?igsh=MWd0czI0djg3M3ZpZQ==