Latvian Foreign Minister Braže Starts Process to Declare Russian Journalist Ragozin Persona Non Grata

Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže has announced that she has launched a process to put another Russian citizen on Latvia's list of persona non grata, meaning people barred from entering or staying in the country. In a commentary, the Latvian outlet NRA links the step to Russian journalist Leonid Ragozin, who holds a permanent residence permit in Latvia. No decision has been made yet, and the process is ongoing.

The dispute between ministers

Before the Saeima (Latvia's parliament) election, Braže and Interior Minister Jānis Dombrava publicly blamed each other over who should secure Ragozin's removal. Braže pointed to the interior minister, who oversees the issuing of residence permits. Dombrava replied that the right to add anyone to the unwanted persons list belongs to the foreign minister. He described that route as faster and more effective than revoking a residence permit, which can mean lengthy court proceedings at every instance.

Who Ragozin is

Ragozin has lived in Latvia since 2014. The commentary's author calls him a spreader of Kremlin propaganda. He cites a 2019 series of articles, "Intermarium", about the "Azov" unit of Ukraine's armed forces and its alleged ties to Latvia's National Alliance. The open-source intelligence resource InformNapalm described the series as defamatory and likely a product of Russian intelligence propaganda.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the author says, Ragozin equated the blame of aggressor and victim. Then defence minister Artis Pabriks turned to media regulators after Ragozin appeared on a LTV7 programme, calling him a possible Russian influence agent. Some Latvian journalists criticised this as a restriction of free speech. The author names as the last straw Ragozin's podcasts, in which he claimed that Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian sites were accidental or caused by Ukraine's own air defence missiles.

Arguments in favour

The commentary argues that refusing residence is not a restriction of free speech and that a state may declare a foreigner unwelcome. Journalist and blogger Michael Nacke backed Braže on social media, saying the issue is not persecution for words but whether a state must grant residence to someone who spreads an aggressor's views. The author adds that the decision draws applause in much of the West, though Braže has also faced sharp criticism.