Latvian Russian Union

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Latvian Russian Union
Latvijas Krievu savienība
Русский союз Латвии
AbbreviationLKS (Latvian)
РСЛ (Russian)
Co-chairpersonsJevgēņijs Osipovs
Andrejs Pagors[1]
Founded3 August 1998 (1998-08-03) (ForHRUL alliance)
19 May 2007 (2007-05-19) (party)
18 January 2014 (2014-01-18) (LKS/РСЛ)
Merger ofEqual Rights
Free Choice in People's Europe
HeadquartersRiga, Rūpniecības iela 9, LV 1010
Membership (2026)Decrease 567[2]
Ideology
Political positionRadical right[7]
Until 2014:
Left-wing
National affiliationPamats-LV (2023–2025)
European affiliationEuropean Free Alliance (until 2022)
European Parliament groupGreens/EFA (2004–2022)
Non-Inscrits (2022–2024)
Colours  Blue
  Red
Saeima
0 / 100
European Parliament
0 / 8
Riga City Council
0 / 60
Website
rusojuz.lv

The Latvian Russian Union (LRU) or the Russian Union of Latvia Latvian: Latvijas Krievu savienība, Russian: Русский союз Латвии, romanized: Russkiy soyuz Latvii) (LKS) is a political party in Latvia supported mainly by ethnic Russians and other Russian-speaking minorities. The co-chairpersons of the Latvian Russian Union were Miroslavs Mitrofanovs and Tatjana Ždanoka.[1][8][9][10]

The party emphasizes issues important to the Russian minority in Latvia. It requests the granting of Latvian citizenship to all of Latvia's remaining non-citizens and supports Russian and Latgalian as co-official languages in municipalities where at least 20% of the population are native speakers of such a language. It supports stronger ties with Russia and was the only major political organization to oppose Latvia's membership in NATO.

History

As ForHRUL (1998–2014)

As an electoral alliance (1998–2007)

The party originated as the electoral alliance For Human Rights in a United Latvia (ForHRUL) (Latvian: Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā, PCTVL; Russian: За права человека в единой Латвии, ЗаПЧЕЛ), established in May 1998 ahead of Latvia's parliamentary elections. The alliance brought together the National Harmony Party, Equal Rights originating from the Interfront movement, and the Socialist Party of Latvia succeeding the former Communist Party of Latvia, parties whose support came primarily from Russophone voters.[11]

The alliance won 16 out of 100 seats in the 1998 parliamentary election and 25 seats in the 2002 parliamentary election, as well as 13 out of 60 seats on Riga City Council in the 2001 municipal elections. After the municipal elections, ForHRUL became part of Riga's city government and National Harmony Party member Sergey Dolgopolov became the deputy mayor of Riga City Council.

During this period, ForHRUL's most prominent leaders were Jānis Jurkāns, Alfrēds Rubiks and Tatjana Ždanoka. Jurkāns was a leader of the Popular Front of Latvia and founder of the National Harmony Party; Rubiks and Ždanoka were prominent as leaders of the Interfront movement, the Latvian branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the federalist movement in Latvia in the early 1990s. They were fairly popular in the Russian community but very unpopular among ethnic Latvians. ForHRUL therefore remained in opposition, because a coalition with Rubiks or Ždanoka was seen as a political suicide by most other elected parties.

ForHRUL partially broke up in 2003. The National Harmony Party was the first to leave the alliance and the Socialist Party followed half a year later. The remnant of ForHRUL consisted of Equal Rights and Free Choice in People's Europe. The latter was composed of dissident Socialist Party and National Harmony Party members, like Yakov Pliner, who opposed the decision to quit the alliance. This reduced grouping had only 6 members of the Saeima (out of 25 that the alliance had before the breakup). ForHRUL was the main force supporting the 2003-2005 activities of the Headquarters for the Protection of Russian Schools.

At the first Latvian election to the European Parliament in 2004, ForHRUL gained one seat, held by Tatjana Ždanoka, who sat with the Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. It also proposed the idea of a Europe-wide party of ethnic Russians. ForHRUL supported a federal Europe, with a "common economic and political space from Lisbon to Vladivostok".

As a single party (2007–2014)

In 2007, ForHRUL was transformed into a single party that retained the name and identity of the old electoral alliance. In recent years the party's support has declined as ethnic Russian voters have switched allegiance to the Harmony party, successor to the National Harmony Party. At the 2010 parliamentary election, the party lost its representation in the Latvian Parliament.

In 2011, the party launched a popular initiative to amend Latvian nationality law by granting citizenship automatically to most non-citizens. After the proposal received the required number of initial signatures, the Ministry of Justice concluded that the draft law was unconstitutional, and the Central Election Commission subsequently suspended the second stage of signature collection.[12] This decision was eventually upheld by the Constitutional Court of Latvia and the Supreme Court of Latvia. It also supported the 2012 initiative to make Russian a co-official language in Latvia.

As Latvian Russian Union (2014–present)

In January 2014, ForHRUL changed its name to the Latvian Russian Union. At the 2014 European Parliament election, it retained its single seat in the European Parliament. The party supported the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 and has taken a pro-Russian stance in the subsequent Russo-Ukrainian War. In August 2014, the party signed a cooperation agreement with the Crimean branch of Russian Unity to "strengthen the unity of Russian world".[13]

In July 2018, Ždanoka resigned her mandate in the European Parliament to focus on the 2018 Latvian parliamentary election and was succeeded by Miroslav Mitrofanov.[14][3] The party campaigned primarily against education reform affecting Russian-language schools and the disqualification of its leader, Tatjana Ždanoka, from standing as a parliamentary candidate due to her membership of the Communist Party of Latvia. Despite attracting attention through the arrest of pro-Kremlin activist Alexander Gaponenko, the party remained below the 5% electoral threshold in opinion polls.[15] With Andrejs Mamikins as their prime minister candidate[16] Latvian Russian Union gained 3.2% votes, failing to win any seats in Saeima, but qualifying for state funding of almost 20 000 euros a year[17] that the party would not be able to receive since it does not possess an account in a credit institution registered in Latvia as required by the law.[18] In 2020, the party finally succeeded in obtaining an account in a Latvian bank.[19]

In the 2019 European Parliament election, LRU received 6.24% of the votes and gained one seat, held by Tatjana Ždanoka who personally received 18,098 plusses and was crossed out 739 times.[20] In the 2020 Riga City Council election, the party gained 6.5% of the votes and re-entered the Riga City Council with four seats.[21]

On April 8, 2022, the European Free Alliance suspended LRU's membership in the party due to "fundamental disagreements" regarding the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, including Ždanoka voting against the European Parliament Resolution condemning it.[22] The same month a 2013 post from the LRU council member Jevgēņijs Osipovs resurfaced and was shared by him and other members of LRU, in which he threatened with "war" if the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders was moved "by even a millimetre".[23] The monument would be demolished on 25 August 2022.[24] A small faction of pro-Kremlin hardliners defected from the Social Democratic Party "Harmony" and joined Latvian Russia Union due to former's initial support of Ukraine.[25]

LRU received a warning from the State Security Service for activities "aimed at justifying violations of foreign policy and international law by Russia, as well as the dissemination of propaganda messages". The party's leadership responded by warning its members "to refrain from speaking, distributing or publishing news that reflects Russia's view of this aggressive war, and to avoid publishing news from unsafe sources at all."[26][27] The Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau informed LRU that the State Security Service warning could be regarded as grounds for halting state funding to the party.[28][29]

In the 2022 parliamentary election, The LRU list, which included a number of candidates that represented the populist Centre Party (e.g. Normunds Grostiņš), gathered 3.6% of the vote,[30] which gave the party no parliamentary seats, but was enough for it to retain state funding. Latvian Russian Union's cooperation with the Centre Party with was formalized on May 2023, when both parties formed the Pamats-LV (lit. 'Foundation-LV' or 'Base-LV') party alliance in preparation for the 2024 European Parliament election.[31]

On 11 August 2022, a citizens' initiative signed by 10,168 people calling for the dissolution of the Latvian Russian Union was referred to the Saeima's National Security Commission for consideration, although the State Security Service stated it had not identified any violations of the amended Law on Political Parties by the party.[32]

In 2024, LRU politician Aleksandrs Filejs received a 10-month suspended prison sentence and one year of probation for publicly denying the Soviet occupation of Latvia in a 2019 Facebook post.[33] The same year, former LRU parliamentary candidate Viktors Guščins was detained by Latvia's State Security Service during searches in Jelgava as part of a criminal investigation.[34]

For the 2025 municipal elections, LRU decided to run candidates on the Sovereign Power–Alliance of Young Latvians lists.[35] After the elections, LKS leader Jeļena Osipova challenged the Liepāja municipal election results, alleging ballot-handling irregularities, technical errors, and inconsistencies in the reporting of votes cast abroad after the party fell 62 votes short of the 5% electoral threshold.[36]

In January 2024 it was revealed that Ždanoka reportedly had been an operative for the FSB since at least 2004.[37]

Election results

Legislative elections

Election Party leader Performance Rank Government
Votes % ± pp Seats +/–
1998[a] Jānis Jurkāns 135,700 14.20 New
16 / 100
 New 4th Opposition
2002 189,088 19.09 Increase 4.89
25 / 100
 Increase 9 Increase 2nd Opposition
2006 Yakov Pliner 54,684 6.06 Decrease 13.03
6 / 100
 Decrease 19 Decrease 7th Opposition
2010 Juris Sokolovskis 13,847 1.47 Decrease 4.59
0 / 100
 Decrease 6 Increase 6th Extra-parliamentary
2011 Yakov Pliner 7,109 0.78 Decrease 0.69
0 / 100
 Steady 0 Decrease 7th Extra-parliamentary
2014 Miroslav Mitrofanov 14,390 1.59 Increase 0.81
0 / 100
 Steady 0 Steady 7th Extra-parliamentary
2018 Andrejs Mamikins 27,014 3.22 Increase 1.63
0 / 100
 Steady 0 Decrease 9th Extra-parliamentary
2022 32,688 3.67 Increase 0.45
0 / 100
 Steady 0 Decrease 11th Extra-parliamentary
  1. officially participated as TSP

European Parliament

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/–
2004 Tatjana Ždanoka 61,401 10.75 (#3)
1 / 9
2009 76,436 9.84 (#3)
1 / 8
 Steady 0
2014 28,303 6.43 (#5)
1 / 8
 Steady 0
2019 29,546 6.28 (#5)
1 / 8
 Steady 0
2024 Did not contest

Riga City Council

Election Votes % Seats +/–
2005 27,728 13.68
9 / 60
 Decrease 4
2009 6,519 2.7
0 / 60
 Decrease 9
2020 11,170 6.5
4 / 60
 Increase 4

See also

References

  1. "Leaders of Latvian Russian Union". Latvian Russian Union. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  2. "Informācija par politisko partiju biedru skaitu". Uzņēmumu reģistra tīmekļvietne (in Latvian). Retrieved 2026-03-06.
  3. "13th Saeima elections: The parties (Part 1)". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. August 13, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  4. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2010). "Latvia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26.
  5. Coleman, Nick (17 May 2001). "Most stubborn survivor speaks out". The Baltic Times. Retrieved 8 April 2005.
  6. Balcere, Ilze (2014). "Populism in the Manifestos of Latvian Political Parties: Increasingly Used but Ineffective?". Journal of Baltic Studies. 45 (5): 10. doi:10.1080/01629778.2014.937819. However, analysis also revealed political forces which, once re-elected, continued to use populism in their manifestos. This is, for instance, the case of the left-wing opposition party For Human Rights in United Latvia (Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā, PCTVL). It was first elected into the Saeima in 2002 with a considerable level of populism (20.45%) in its electoral program. In spite of being part of the elite (if we consider being in legislature a sufficient indicator of belonging to the political elite), PCTVL had no actual governing experience because it had never been a coalition member. Notwithstanding, in the following elections it slightly increased the amount of populism in its manifesto, scoring 24% in 2006 before dropping to 19% in 2011.
  7. Cheskin, Ammon; March, Luke (2016). "Latvia's 'Russian left': Trapped between ethnic, socialist, and social-democratic identities". In March, Luke; Keith, Daniel (eds.). Europe's Radical Left: From Marginality to the Mainstream?. London: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 231–252. ISBN 978-1-78348-535-2. The third main 'Russian left' party we examine is For Human Rights in United Latvia (Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā, PCTVL), which has latterly developed from a declaratively left-wing, socially-oriented party to the ethnicised, radical-right Latvian Russian Union (Latvijas Krievu savienība, LKS). (...) Finally, the Latvian Russian Union was originally a leftist minority rights party, and remains a radical left party in Latvian parlance, but now represents a radical right ethnic Russian party whose strategy has increasingly been to ignore economic issues almost entirely.
  8. "Exclusive: Latvian Member of European Parliament is an agent of Russian intelligence, leaked emails confirm".
  9. Tjoflot, Eirin (2024-01-31). "EU-politikar var russisk agent". NRK (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 2024-02-10.
  10. "New investigation alleges Latvian member of European Parliament has secretly worked for Russian FSB for 20 years".
  11. "Leftist-Russian Block Created in Latvia". Jamestown Foundation. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  12. "Russia: Latvia "seriously short of democracy"". Kyiv Post. Interfax-Ukraine. 2 November 2002. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  13. "Pro Russia party signs major deal with Crimea group". The Baltic Times. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  14. "Ždanoka quits Brussels to run Saeima campaign for party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  15. Spriņģe, Inga (1 October 2018). "In Russia's shadow, populists rise before the Latvian elections". Re:Baltica. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  16. "Ždanoka may get shot at Saeima elections after all". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. June 30, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  17. Klūga, Māris (October 8, 2018). "Three of the smaller parties to get state funding". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  18. "No state cash for Latvian Russian Union". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  19. "Latvia's Russian Union succeeds in opening bank account after lengthy negotiations". The Baltic Times. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  20. "European Parliament election results announced in Latvia". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  21. "Development/For!/Progressives lead the way in Rīga council elections". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
  22. "The Bureau suspends the Latvian Russian Union as a member party of EFA". European Free Alliance. April 8, 2022. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  23. "Latvian Russians Union threatens with "war" if Victory Monument tampered with". Baltic News Network. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  24. "Demolition of Soviet Victory monument in Rīga". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  25. Lisa Homel (3 October 2022). "Russia's war pushes Latvia's voters to the center". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 2 February 2024. The ethnic-Russian party Harmony—once a frontrunner—tried to adapt to the times. Members of the party's mainstream faction made clear their initial support for Ukraine and have become more moderate. But despite this shift toward the middle, the party has drastically lost popularity since winning 30 percent during the 2010 Saeima elections. Meanwhile, the small faction of pro-Kremlin hardliners have peeled off from Harmony to join the fringe and openly pro-Russian Latvian Russian Union (LKS), which depicts Latvia's ethnic Russians as an oppressed minority.
  26. "Latvian Russian Union gets warning by security service". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  27. "Security Service warns Latvia's Russian Union against justification of Russia's aggression". The Baltic Times. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  28. "Continued spreading of Kremlin propaganda might be reason for halting funding for Latvia's Russian Union - Corruption Prevention Burau". The Baltic Times. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  29. "Pro-Kremlin posts may cost Latvian Russians Union its state funding". Baltic News Network. LETA. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  30. Marija Golubeva (7 October 2022). "Latvia's Russian Speakers Make Radical Electoral Choices". Centre for European Policy Studies. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  31. "Latvian Russians Union and Centre party create Pamats political union". Baltic News Network. LETA. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  32. "Initiative demands closure of Latvian Russian Union party". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  33. "Latvian Russian Union's politician gets conditional sentence". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  34. "LTV: Pro-Kremlin activist detained by security service". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 18 December 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  35. ""Suverēnā vara" un "Apvienība jaunlatvieši" iesniedz kopīgus sarakstus visās pašvaldībās (3)". www.tvnet.lv (in Latvian). 9 April 2025. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  36. "Latvian Russian Union contests municipal election results in Liepāja". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  37. "EU Parliament probes a Latvian lawmaker after media allegations that she spied for Russia". Associated Press. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.