Heavy machinery arrives at protest against Russian grain transit in Latvia

Several dozen heavy vehicles, including tractors and grain lorries, have gathered in the Latvian city of Jēkabpils, where a protest against the transit of Russian grain is taking place on Saturday.

Source: European Pravda, citing Delfi, a leading Latvian news portal

Details: Some participants noted that they had come to support the demonstration, stressing that Latvian farmers are also suffering losses due to this grain transit.

A protest is taking place in Jēkabpils this Saturday under the slogan "No to blood grain!". Its goal is to achieve a ban on the transit through Latvia of grain coming from Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the war, Latvian society has been providing significant support to Ukraine by accepting refugees, raising funds, delivering humanitarian aid and helping the Ukrainian people in other ways. The protest organisers believe that against the backdrop of such support, the use of Latvia's transport infrastructure to transport Russian grain is unacceptable.

The initiator of the protest, farmer and civic activist Gundars Kalve, together with his like-minded supporters, is urging the Latvian government to completely stop the transit of grain from Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine through the Latvian railway network.

Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs attended the protest. Speaking to hundreds of protesters, he stated that a bill is to be tabled in the Saeima [the Latvian parliament – ed.] that will allow Latvia to stop the transit of Russian grain by banning the conclusion of new contracts.

The prime minister reported that coordination of actions between ministries is planned for next week. He explained that the goal of the bill is to stop the transit of grain by preventing the conclusion of any new agreements.

Kulbergs stressed that the transit must be stopped and that they must not fuel the Russian military machine or provide funds that go towards the killing of Ukrainians, while admitting that a quick solution has not yet been found.

In the prime minister's opinion, introducing a ban exclusively at the Latvian level is not an effective solution – it must be done in coordination with the European Union. He noted that imposing transit restrictions falls within the EU's remit, and Latvia is obliged to comply with the generally applicable rules.

Background:

• Lithuania is insisting on the practical implementation of a mechanism to verify the origin of grain in order to prevent the use of European Union ports and EU transport infrastructure for the transit of Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia from the occupied territories of Ukraine.
• As reported by European Pravda, Estonia plans to completely block the transit of Russian grain through its ports.

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