Latvia shows Russian diplomat the door

Latvia has declared a Russian diplomat to be persona non grata, and thrown him out. The previous case was in 2004. Askolds Rodins suspects that, once again, there is an unspoken charge of spying: "President Zatler's visit to Moscow could indicate that both sides are ready to build normal neighbourly relations. But this sort of trip must not be made in a hurry, nor at any price. Last year, Moscow repeatedly took a hard line with us regarding the border treaty. We can't allow our president's visit to become a pretext for pushing us to behave ourselves. Let's not forget that Latvia is first and foremost a member of the EU and NATO. Our relationship to our Russian neighbour comes second. Even if Moscow would love to see us as its Trojan horse in the EU."

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