The Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has slammed the Latvian Sejm's decision to designate Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism," adding that it is driven by "feral xenophobia." She went on to call the people behind the idea of holding such a vote in the Latvian parliament "neo-Nazis."
Zakharova previously responded to the introduction of the bill to the Latvian Sejm on August 2 by calling it another example of hostility among Latvian lawmakers, and stressed that it was well in line with the anti-Russian hysteria whipped up by Riga.
The Foreign Ministry's representative suggested that Latvia should focus on improving the level of the living of its population, which had dropped in recent years due to economic and social issues brought about by the ruling party's Russophobia. Zakharova further advised Riga to stop being a satellite to "overseas masters" and start catering to the interests of their own people.
Apart from calling Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism" over its decision to launch the special military operation in Ukraine, the Latvian Sejm also called on its fellow EU nations to immediately stop issuing new visas to Russians. Germany confirmed on August 10 that such a proposal was on the agenda for the next package of anti-Russia sanctions, but noted that no decisions in that regard have been made yet.