Russia Closes Baltic Consulates, Expels Employees

Russia ordered the closure of the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian consulates (Baltic states), Russia’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday.

In a statement, the ministry revealed that it was closing the Latvian consulates in St Petersburg and Pskov, the Estonian consulate in St Petersburg and its office in Pskov, and the Lithuanian consulate in St Petersburg. In addition, Russia asked the consulates' employees to leave in a retaliatory move, according to the statement.

Earlier in April, Latvia and Estonia commanded the closure of two Russian consulates over the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while Lithuania told the Russian ambassador to leave.

Lithuania’s parliament has voted to ban public displays of the letter “Z”, the black and orange ribbon of St George, and other symbols that express support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In reference to an earlier ban on public displays of Soviet and Nazi symbols, Lithuania added a provision for “the symbols of totalitarian or authoritarian regimes used in the past or currently use to promote military aggression, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed or perpetrated by them.”