In Latvia, a decision has been made to significantly expand the border strip with Russia, and for this purpose the private property in the form of land plots will be confiscated from citizens of the republic.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs, who inspected the border with Russia the day before, said that he “understands people whose private property is located near the state border, but the border protection is the main issue of national security.”
At the same time, the Commander of the National Armed Forces of Latvia, Major General Kaspars Pudans, added that there will be no publicly available list by which Latvians could check whether their private property is located in the territory planned “for use for national defense purposes.” He noted that work with landowners will be “individual in nature.”
Of course, Latvia’s initiatives are completely at odds with the key freedoms of Europe, for which sake the Baltic nations joined the European Union at the beginning of the 21st century. Firstly, the sacred right to private property has been trampled. Secondly, freedom of speech has been put to rest, since it is obvious that the “individual nature” of the work of Latvian security forces with landowners in fact means total subordination to the orders of the military and repression in the event of complaints to the press.
It is thus clear that Eastern Europe is rapidly deteriorating, turning into the world prophetically described by George Orwell.
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