The Russian diplomat expelled from Latvia on Jan. 21 is embassy official Second Secretary Alexander Rogozhin, the Constitution Protection Bureau (Satversmes aizsardzības birojs) confirmed to Latvian media Jan. 24.

Latvia expelled the Russian diplomat for being a threat to national security, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Jan. 21. The name and position of the embassy official were not immediately released to give him time to leave the country, as is customary. Rogozhin’s name remained on the embassy’s Web site at the end of the business day Jan. 24.

Latvian State Television, citing unofficial sources, incorrectly reported Jan. 21 that the diplomat was First Secretary Sergejs Toropovs.

Latvian officials now are awaiting whether and how Russia will respond. Russia said it reserves “the right to take adequate measures” in response to the expulsion, a Russian Foreign Ministry source told the official ITAR-TASS news agency in Moscow.

In 2004, Latvia expelled the Russian embassy’s Second Secretary Piotr Urzhumov, who was accused of trying to gain information about the NATO defense alliance’s presence in Latvia. In response, Russia expelled Latvian First Secretary Juris Poikāns.

The latest expulsion comes at the end of Russian Ambassador Viktor Kalyuzhny’s term in Rīga. Appointed in 2004, Kalyuzhny will be replaced by Aleksandr Veshnyakov, former head of Russia’s Central Elections Commission.

The expulsion also came just weeks after rumors flew in the Rīga media that the government in late December had kicked out another Russian diplomat. At the time, TV3 incorrectly reported that embassy First Secretary Vyacheslav Yefremov had been expelled. However, Yefremov left on his own because his work contract had expired.

Then reports emerged that another first secretary in the Russian embassy, Anatoly Kogalov, had surfaced on the Schengen Treaty zone’s “black list.” Latvia joined the Schengen zone on Dec. 21, meaning that Latvian citizens can travel passport-free throughout most of Europe.

 

During a year “marked by a notable setback for global freedom,” Latvia also has slipped in a rating a political rights and civil liberties, the Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group Freedom House announced Jan. 16.

Although still listed as a country that is free, political rights in Latvia slipped to a rating of 2, one less than the best score possible, Freedom House said in its report, Freedom in the World 2008. Civil liberties remained at a rating of 1, the same as last year.

“For 2007, Latvia registered a slight decline due to a series of corruption scandals that implicated high-ranking officials,” according to the report, which nonetheless praised continued advances in democracy in the Baltic region.

In the Freedom House survey, 1 represents the most free and 7 the least free rating. The ratings, according to Freedom House, represents events from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of last year.

Estonia and Lithuania maintained rankings of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties. Russia, listed as a country that is not free, was given a rating of 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties.

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers will make an official visit to Germany from Jan. 21-22, his first trip to the country, according to the president’s press office.

Germany is among Latvia’s most important foreign trade partners, according to the Central Statistical Bureau.

Zatlers is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel; President Horst Köhler; Norbert Lammert, president of the German Bundestag, the national parliament; and Klaus Wowerei, mayor of Berlin. He also is to meet with representatives of the industry group Deutscher Bund der Industrie and with Latvian businesses active in Germany.

The Latvian president also plans to address the Körber Foundation, a private group supporting public interest projects. Zatlers is to speak about Latvian foreign policy issues.

The president also will visit the International Green Week Berlin trade fair for ecologically clean products.