but the price of building materials in latvia has gone up by half. and he doesn't know when it will be finished. the rosenthal is live in a small village in western latvia, set in beautiful countryside. youngest takes the children to school each morning and brings them home again later. but all is not as idyllic as it seems with a population of just to 1000000 latvia is one of the poorest countries in the european union. it's economy traditionally closely linked to russia's. the war has had a disastrous impact on business owners like yon us, m. o 's board, we've always worked closely with business partners in russia and people there always wanted our products back now that's all gone in. got such a sad way. so me anees about lat fears. big neighbor to the east has risen sharply since the start of the war. latvia declared independence from the soviet union more than 30 years ago. but the invasion of ukraine has brought back traumatic memories . he, this the hud via apple car. it feels like the apocalypse, say with him, please him to know if you wake u

what is latvia like today? has anyone thought? if not, then short ligbes is a small state in northern europe, after joining the eu and nato in 2004, it was completely deprived of independence with a killed industry. today , just over half a million people live in the country, the population is aging, the birth rate is low, and the working-age part of it is leaving for countries with a higher standard of living, but they have also begun to expel russians. latvia makes money only in the service sector, sprats and riga balsam, but they now sell sprats also according to quotas. aizh balsam is interesting only people from the post-soviet space, because they remember latvia with the russian language, nordic character and friendly. but today it’s different. and i’m aksenia lebedeva with you. hello. if the economy is at zero, you need to feed people an idea, the more toxic it is, the fewer questions there will be, nothing is clear in principle, but it’s very interesting, latvia today, renouncing everything russian, is not moving to nation

this collective trauma in latvia, it still shapes relations with russia and with latvia, russian speaking minority which make up a quarter of the population. ready the soviet era victory monument was one focal point for tensions ethnic russians used to gather here to commemorate soldiers who fought against nazi germany in the 2nd world war. in august 2022, the latvian government had demolished and protest over the ukraine war for years are nice about shoes, documented the russian commemorations that took place here. ah, that was not for demolishing because i don't think that change is anything but linda, what is the ukraine start? if we tell that this is our enemy and on the monument and i've help okay, let's just do it in our spontaneously. let's go there, demolish it was our hands, you know, like berlin wall it, this is, oh, my be way of like relieving some kind of this, whatever pain or suffering that we have jowl then neither like i should have said i was going to drop box and thanks, show that i the i think it's a bit different with young people because i think they don't think in th

uh, well, in general, here i am a citizen of latvia and , uh, latvia in recent years. all recent years in fact, in the information space , including the western one in the western media, it is present here on march 16 on the day of the latvian legion, and those latvians and latvians who fought on the side of the soviet union, they were in the shadows. and somehow i wanted to make up for it. this one, uh, struck this one, yes, and i, frankly, have long conceived this film, but three years ago i started shooting and i had four recorded. clever interviews with veterans, but not a single frame was included in the film, because the events in the twenty-second year simply became develop. so it was necessary to follow the events. and those plans that were originally they. well, to put it mildly, collapsed. it was necessary to go for life in order for the film to be relevant. how did you manage to put it together? that's it, these unique shots of the destruction of monuments, and you took somewhere in the archive yourself and went to shoot on some or they provide you somewhere

latvia and russia this is an issue between latvia and poland this is an issue of russia's own history and i think that is the same show to bring all knowledge about. tragic complex difficult issues of twentieth century and we have to start it. i think a good start is a hope of the victory we shouldn't try to reach immediately some finish but we have to stop and what's essential we have to start both and we have to start to cover this first step was done today i hope very much it will be successful you're absolutely both moscow and riga have already labeled this visit as successful well as far as i know you are yuruk coming to minister latin economist or he was coming to moscow in order to try to convince gazprom to cut the gas prices for latvia was this attempt successful. well. i should say that was no not the only issue of of for. minister of economy and a number of ministers who. came with the president to moscow we have signed a number of four agreements by a bilateral agreements. i should mention first and foremost the agreement in some double taxation agreement on our cooperatio

uh, well, in general, here i am a citizen of latvia and , uh, latvia in recent years.ll recent years, in fact, in the information space, including in the west in the western media, it is present here on march 16 on the day of the latvian legion, and those latvians and latvians who fought on the side of the soviet union, they were in the shadow. and somehow i wanted to make up for it. this one, uh, struck this one, yes, and i, frankly, for a long time conceived this film, but started shooting about three years ago and hmm, i recorded four voluminous interviews with veterans. but not a single frame was included in the film, because events in the twenty-second year simply began to develop. so it was necessary to follow the events. and those plans that were originally they. well, to put it mildly, collapsed. it was necessary to go for life, so that the film was an actual reality. weaker desire, how did it happen to collect like that? that's it. here are the unique footage of the destruction of monuments. e you somewhere they took it in the archive, they themselves went out

missy: let's talk about latvia. how many nato forces are present in latvia? and are you satisfied with nato's military presence in the baltic nations specifically, given their geography and history as soviet republics? pres. levits: we have nato military personnel from 10 other nations, 10 other nato nations here, and several from other nato states, and our own military forces. for the moment, it is enough. but because of the change of the strategic situation in europe, we need more troops. and we need to strengthen the eastern flank of nato. and of course, that mia is part of the eastern flank, and we will prepare our proposals so that we have more emphasis to defend, the common defense, and for the deployment of nato troops in our baltic region and in general, eastern part of europe. missy: it is interesting to see nato leadership make these decisions following president putin's invasion of ukraine, that many countries in eastern europe have in calling for four years. we know baltic nations have warned the west for a long time about the threat of russia and

latvia cannot yet.ted a mandatory call just recently, by the way, i couldn’t get 360 people, not thousands, 360, they played a lottery , now summonses have been sent to the addresses, i’m not joking, but i would also like to remember the words of retired, as a rule, estonian generals, who have recently been very there is often talk about mining of fields along the border with the russian federation, and mining will happen. and the protocol of the three defense ministers says that they will also build at least 60 fortified areas along the border, well, mainly of estonia and latvia with russia, because lithuania is in the kaliningrad region, there is, of course, a question of funding, and the minister of defense of latvia said so funny, well, we know for sure that russia will not attack in the next 10 years, so we can calmly build our fortifications for 10 years, that is, how then will russia attack what we were juggling before the special operation began on february 24, and it’s also interesting. we will

there are many ukrainians in latvia now. you know the exact number. how many numbers are constantly changing. the latest number, which is more or less stable, is about 40,000 ukrainians who were registered or who applied for help to both national and local authorities. authorities, but you know. we also see that there is a constant stream of ukrainians crossing the latvian-russian border, those who are trying to escape through russia and from the occupied territories as well we see that some ukrainians are returning to ukraine , now some are using latvia as a transit country, that is, in fact, the figure that we can call more or less stable is 40 thousand. but do you know about the number of ukrainians who are starting to come to latvia ? it was a bit of a mystery because we saw several hundred citizens of ukraine crossing the border between latvia and russia in the summer and in september. now, for some reason, this flow has stopped and we have a suspicion that it is somehow related to the internal border management of russia and possibly also with t

the war and ukraine has been polarizing latvia more and more since it began with it. anyway, we're losing our friends. we're losing our neighbors. it heard the propaganda is like a poison that divides our society. clue where is 66 year old maria and her son janice, have lots of russian friends and acquaintances. russian media is blocked in latvia, but russian speakers have found ways to listen in. and since the invasion of ukraine, a war of information has been raging full blast, they say. a music video by deputy to the duma dennis my down of on russian sate television, extols the power of the smart missile, able to deliver nuclear warheads as far as the united states usually came to bring it to you. she knew you all at once. president vladimir put in, turns up with a direct threat to use them. yes. for human kind, it will be a global disaster. well, for the world, it will be a disaster in you or what we need the world for. if there is no russia, when he's with them going to pursue a demonstration of russian power is directed at nato. there are many people in eastern

today these people are attracted to responsibility alexander dublyaga is a citizen of latvia.he studies at one of moscow colleges and plans to continue his higher education in our homeland. we have already contacted his mother, svetlana, and we will provide legal and diplomatic assistance in this situation. once again i want to remind you that he is a citizen of latvia in this sense, our capabilities. they are severely limited. and you can literally say in a nutshell what he is now accused of, how formalized it is, so to speak, an offense. well, it sounds terrible, of course, this is the article of the local criminal code 74/1, which is called justifying genocide, a crime against humanity and justifying military action. it is clear, but i understand that our ability to help him is limited, however. we paid great attention to your words, so to speak, that we are russia, you are the ambassador and our embassy is going to provide him with all possible help, thank god and thank you for this, but please tell me, as a diplomat on michal valentinovich , here, while i'm trying to unde

missy: let's talk about latvia specifically. how many nato forces are present in latvia? are you satisfied with nato's military presence in the baltic nations, specifically given their geography and their history with soviet republic? president levits: we have nato military personnel from 10 other nations. 10 other nato nations here. and we have several thousand from others, nato member states, and we have also of course our own military forces. so that's for the moment it is enough. but because of a change of the strategic situation in europe, we need more troops and we need to strengthen all eastern flank of nato and of course latvia is part of the eastern flank. and we will prepare our proposals so that we have more emphasis to defend fence, and -- defense, and of course for the employment of -- deployment of nato troops in our region. baltic region, but in general in the eastern part of europe. missy: it's interesting to see nato's leadership make these decisions following president putin's invasion of ukraine that many countries in eastern europe have been calling fo

day latvia and nazi germany. during the second of that. they must go. but they must leave out the. bottom up and i. think they would like to say it's national. the languages of the things they were thinking that they had to. speak latvian things about the rights and not feel if you're not a citizen and culture some of the six of the tropes in the coalition of things where you are discriminated against because you're in pure. theory alex saves mother is latvian but his father is russian he has a perfect command of both languages. he received an excellent education both as an engineer and as a journalist his son is a school people. papa you tell me what the sentence means. is often it's a loss when he tries to figure out his math textbook it's written in latvian. the internet translator says it means headline well yes that's a possibility. a country schools were formed in the middle of the past decade. russian take spokes were hastily replaced with latvian ones. now more than half of the subjects in russian languag

and poets when they say that latvia is the land of latvians. true, but not all, latvia is the land of russians and belarusians, and baltic jews and germans, who also lived here centuries. many darlings cannot imagine any other motherland than latvia. well, it suits the son, that spirit of the name is presented by a new song album dedicated to his mother. i am a latvian ukrainian and i tried russian in general today in russian, but i thought, well, there was no such inspiration, there was no such situation. no, i wrote that, well, these events that started to create it, well, the division of people in my country is already provoking already. well , for about 30 years, until about the very beginning , they tried to somehow unite people, it didn’t work, how to build the future, in general i try to share the state together all the time and love it very much. i took russian latvians, he is not afraid to speak loudly about common values, he sees his mission in this, and i am already 65. so there is nothing to be especially afraid of in god either. i

it's now been twenty years since latvia jeev sovereignty. but still independence day its most celebrated holiday and the freedom monument its main national icon aliant to hoffer of the country's population.

in latvia began ukraine information space and environment.block colors began to dominate in cities and towns on the radio sounded news releases on the ukrainian model everywhere ukrainian flags from the cabinet of ministers and the ministry of foreign affairs to schools, hospitals , electronic screens, banners, websites. the media of private companies are even painting trams yellow-blocked; atm screens are calling to help ukrainian residents with supplies to ukraine . latvia indeed, everything in the world will come out on top with its military budget. this, of course, is not so much out of love for ukraine and ukrainians. how many because of hostility to russia for ukraine and against putin leads the president himself is an ehillelite in latvia, he is the most significant official categorically, advocating the ousting of the russian language later in an interview. he will also speak in the spirit that the russian-speaking celebrating victory day should be sorted out and isolated. the rally russian voice against the war was given the most pre

and poets when they say that latvia is the land of latvians., but not all, latvia is the land of both russians and belarusians, and baltic jews and germans, who also lived here for centuries. many had you, they don't think of you another motherland except latvia well, it suits the son, that spirit of the name is presented by a new song album dedicated to the mother. i am a latvian ukrainian and i tried russian in general today in russian, but i thought, well, there was no such inspiration, there was no such situation. i wrote that, well, these events that began to create this, well, the separation of people, how m-m in my country already provoke already. well, about 30 years. yes, i try to somehow unite people , it didn’t work out, how to build the future, in general , the state is together all the time divide. the gazelle of latvian russians is not afraid to speak loudly about common values; he sees his mission in this, or i'm already 65. so there is nothing to be especially afraid of in god either. i love and love so much that he is also more

and poets, when they say that latvia is the land of latvians - this is true, but not all, latvia is therussians and belarusians, and jews and baltic germans, who also lived here for centuries. many had you, they don’t think of you any other motherland except latvia well, it suits the son, that spirit and now presents a new song album dedicated to the mother. i am latvian ukrainian and russian. and i used to also try it in general for me today in russian, but i thought, well, there was no such inspiration, there was no such situation. i wrote to the fact that, well, these events that started to create this, well, the division of people in my country is already provoking already. well, about 30 years. yes, i try to somehow unite people , it didn’t work out how to build the future, in general , i try to divide the state together all the time and i love it very much. gazelle of latvian russians is not afraid to speak loudly about common values; he sees his mission in this, or i'm already 65. so especially there is nothing to fear, too, and in god. i love and so i think that he is also more

that's announcer i think since latvia is a member of nato since life is a member of european union i would say we haven't any fear from nobody well of course we have to. have fears from economic challenges from new international threats like international terrorism but well that's a challenge. facing any any country including like you you're mentioning the economic challenges was well as a member of nato ally that is for as i understand spence spent quite a considerable sum on defense well this reset let's call it in russia latin relations that we are seeing today do you think it may convince the let me leadership to scrap some costly defense programs i wouldn't link link reset policy and our defense spending have been cut quite substantially in the last two years. due to economic constraints. but we are still. lacking to have two percent military or defense expenditures of g.d.p. so we are spending less and that's a commitment of nato states so i think this is not claimed to. have a reset is not linked to the level of military expenditures in latvia and we have to holler our. commit

moreover, latvia is experiencing a shortage of latvia's energy deficit.icular for electricity is approximately 30%, this is what they have to buy annually from abroad. prices today on the electricity exchange. so high that, well, there are simply not enough values ​​in which to measure them, of course, all this will affect the well-being of the population of latvia . thank you very much. mikhail valentin who were with us today and continue to monitor the situation around the monument, which needs to be completely dismantled and completely launched, as we found out from ours conversation on the road. gravel and, of course, the situation in latvia in general, because there is a feeling that our relations are reaching a dead end. and apparently. riga is only interested in not getting out of this impasse. thank you very much. no less disturbing news comes from cyprus. the cypriot police, meanwhile, released a ukrainian terrorist who attacked russian activists with a knife during the celebration of the russian flag day. this is me quoting the telegram channel

but why is it so important for the people of latvia ? we see in this trend a bad trend these war crimes have not appeared right now and exactly in ukraine ukraine ah there were before in ukraine war crimes were committed for the sole reason that they were not stopped earlier that the war criminals did not answer for this in any way before , neither in georgia nor in fact in 2014 after the struggle in donbas and in crimea." part of the race, it can spread everywhere, if you, its criminals, do not see the consequences, then all this will go on and continue to grow, and we must stop it with all our might. there is simply no other way out. in fact, i believe that the criminals are those who are involved in the committed war crimes, i believe. i am even convinced that they will appear before the court and be punished it will be a little more difficult for the political leaders, those who ordered to do it with them will be a little more difficult , this does not mean that we should surrender. but why then some countries? countries, their gover

light, he will win latvia a victory in ukraine.hank you dear, after february 24, representatives of the latvian nation began to declare that russia’s aggression against ukraine has opened a historical window of opportunity to deal with the occupation monuments at home. official latvia is for bandera's ukraine and against the ukraine that is somehow connected with russia at the end of february, all relations were interrupted rhetoric. naturally, the rhetoric on the head of the riga duma has changed; they have also changed, concluded in the ninety-fourth year, the russian-latvian treaty did not allow the demolition of soviet monuments. their damage, desecration were considered a violation of law 24 on the night of 24-25, firstly, a man with a hammer appeared, who developed this stella and then at night he would still be doused with paint. we arrived in the morning. we started cleaning. we realized that this could all happen again and we organized the night watch. a series of acts of vandalism began, an unequal struggle of those who w

we have enough of these abandoned industrial monuments and latvia -- in lot via -- in latvia. >> i would like to set up a museum here to help bring history closer to people. but we need a lot of money for that, which we don't have, unfortunately. >> so the two continue their search for evidence of the past, though they are keeping the exact occasions to themselves. they don't want looters to destroy the last traces of the soviet army in latvia. >> with the polar ice craft -- ice cap receding, huge amounts of resources are being exposed, causing a modern day gold rush in many places. russia, for instance, is pressing on with oil production, despite heavy protests by environmental detection groups, and greenland is facing a difficult decision. >> the world's biggest island could soon become one of the richest. greenland has huge reserves of gold, aluminum, platinum, and uranium, and of rare earth metals, which are needed to produce mobile phones, but while iron ore production has been given the go-ahead, the greenlanders are much more skeptical when it comes to digging for uranium. >> hunt

, which is a russian speaking person in latvia. i've always felt that i have to make more of an effort to own people's attention and respect to remind you of him. when the war started, he broke off all his theater commitments in russia. okay. victors are looking to have some corner. there's a double stand and, and there are 2 sides to everything. certainly not. on the one hand, our country has not sought to integrate russian speakers into latvian culture. but on the other, many russian speak is in our country, have themselves failed to integrate for many years or per song. or could i'm talking about people who think that ukraine is bombing itself out. people who think that russia is a great power and does everything right? 0. so that's really what these people think. i'm ninfa chaverra with global la floor. it's difficult globally because our society is divided nealus. that's why we're seeing these radical measures to cut off everything associated with russian politics as much as possible. so we can finally move forward to serving

but anyway, no, in latvia and l lithuania also. we will work on that. at the same time we are looking for more, more reasonable nato partners' presence in the region because we saw from different military games that organized by very prominent institutions here in the u.s. that we really need to strengthen the presence of nato forces. in the region. not only by number of soldiers on our land, ground, but also by increasing prepositions of the different equipment and ammunition in the region. because in our case, if you speak about possible aggression, the most important issue is time of response. and if we want to shorten this time, we really need higher presence of nato forces in the region and also prepositioning of equipment, technique, ammunition in the region. it will be more shorter, because if we just u.s. decides to help and we are sure you will decide. but anyway, we need many days to transport equipment to europe. it means we need to find solutions. and also will be one of the questions what we will discuss probably during the next nato summit

the rosen tells house in western latvia to the border with russia in the east. the 2 countries have a long shared history. but to day latvians feel threatened by russia. ah. in more atanya, the government uses a longstanding tradition to detect and combat terrorist threats early on. they hit the road on a camel patrol. this is the latest approach, and the fight against jihad is terrorists in mauritania. a traditional solution to a modern problem. the mahari national guard are a police unit recruited from local nomads. there camels are their most important tool there. the best way to get around the vast border region between mauritania and molly g. hottest groups linked to al qaeda, have gained ground nearby, and authorities fighting them. need the kind of intelligence that only locals can offer. rosara this is emma allison, i agents go under cover in the market unless they spy on the traders. for example, if we see a know med buying large quantities of fuel, we know that is not normal shipper and no matter the box is to see the bodies went up their work and it i

i'm wondering what this all means for the russian speaking minority in latvia. a lot of them maybe don't feel very comfortable. i'm not talking about the signal so called fixed colony that they always felt ok. they live in a brown country talk about kind of reasonable like russians. natasha. they've been seen as a kind of local enemy in a way, and they have to pool once again themselves. okay. you know, we are, we're not, we don't agree with fulton all we want this to be the independent state. so our russian latvians feeling the pressure i decided to visit the russian theater enrica, to find out more. mm hm. martian brucell, my name is maxine booster. i come from reger in latvia and i work as an actor in theater and televisions for yucca cruz commission. sure, as a russian speaking person in latvia, i've always felt that i have to make more of an effort to own people's attention and respect every minute. when the war started, he broke off all his theatre commitments in russia. mac of with toyota of assumed where there's a double stand and, and there are 2 sides

i am interested in latvia, in latin history, latin identity in kind of things that i feel related to the think silo and hey, on the same time. same as from my countries, my my and so as for my artistic artistic breakfast, i think her latin initial deputies, pretty much based on the suffering you have that recent past. no soviet past, those kind of very significant elements. source always we being single ourselves as victims. so this is missouri compassion. this is the all part. and then that is a new will bought. it symbolizes that we can get rid of our history. instead of like, you know, let's have another page, you know, history. let's, let's leave it, let forget it. you know, mirabelle the like, why brides, you know, a new likes car. you know, hey, we wanna keep suffering. we want to keep talking about our pain. you know, i'm familiar with this kind of past from poland, this collective trauma. in latvia, it's still shapes relations with russia and with light b as russian speaking minority which make up a quarter of the population. the soviet era victory monument was one focal poin

no russians to enter latvia?nly issue on an exceptional basis, i think what you call humanitarian visas. there are some who have received that permit, but the general rule is no visas. the german chancellor scholz says that's a fundamental mistake. he says, "this is not a war on the russian people. it is putin's war. it is important for us to understand there are a lot of people fleeing from russia because they fundamentally disagree with the russian regime." you really want to lock them out of getting a safe haven in latvia ? once again, it's important to distinguish a tourist visa from a humanitarian visa. we are accepting, on an exceptional basis, russian citizens who are indeed fleeing the putin regime. we have, in latvia, we're actually hosting many news services, russian edition, including the bbc�*s, and many others — the former independent russian media, which is banned in moscow, is alive in latvia and reporting back into russia. so, of course, you always find a way to let that which would be termed a hu

well, my guest today is latvia's prime minister, kristjanis karins. just how vulnerable is latvia?rime minister kristjanis karins, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine happened six months ago. right now, here in latvia, has that war raised the level of fear to new heights? what the war has done has raised the level of mobilisation. so the first effect was the mobilisation from the grassroots, people rallying to the support of ukraine citizens, ordinary people coming together, asking, "what can we do to help ukraine?" and we've had a mass outpouring of... we have communities making camouflage nets, we have people providing medications, companies donating all sorts of vehicles, donating all sorts of humanitarian aid, blankets, you name it, that has been going on. people donating cash — and not very wealthy people, ordinary people. so we've had a massive mobilisation of society, because we here in latvia very well understand that the ukrainians are, in a sense, fighting our war. they are fighting against russian imperialism. right now, it happens to be

has ever been in latvia.ou live in his house. and every morning you wake up in his bedroom. well, maybe luxury items. this category does not apply to everyone is good. it is known how the nazis took jewelry from the jews before they were sent to death, how they took out paintings and other items from the occupied countries. luxury. how they pulled out the golden teeth from those who destroyed. so the dachas of kosygin's villa for the current president, latvia is a moral cost, so to speak, they do not suffer much, apparently, levits was born in latvia in 1955. his father was jewish during the war. he was evacuated from latvia but the rest of the president’s relatives died during the holocaust, levits’s mother was latvian and she survived the occupation safely, but with the arrival of soviet troops in 1944 she decided to leave with the nazis later, she returned to latvia where she met her leftist father and in seventy-two year. the family amicably emigrated to germany. and in germany, levits studied at the latv

in more than latvia the x. parties and was declared an enemy and spent almost two years behind bars for taking part in the killing of local volunteers they were helping the germans. kannan of was acting on of the situation taken by parties and tribunals in one nine hundred forty three. when radical nationalists came to power after the regime change their lackeys started a massive campaign against info fascists people who had fought in the entire hitler coalition they were all to review the outcome of the war edition in order to whitewash naziism and fascism and as usual pressures of. ivors garda is leader of a political organization called the national front of latvia the front publishes a newspaper founded by him. better weekends and during public holidays policies hand out free copies to anyone willing to read the paper. its name contains three deeds they stand for d. york your patient the colonized station and dean russification. for a long time dr goddard taught ethics at the academy of culture some of his

they receive it while they are in latvia.hough they can also legally stay in latvia for three months with valid documents even without registration, so i can’t say the exact number, but it’s definitely more than 20 thousand more than 14 thousand received a work permit in latvia ukraine they live mostly in host families or in some specially prepared premises for this purpose. they live in families, but the municipal authorities of many cities and villages also provide housing , for example, they give away various school premises and other social infrastructure buildings are also used for housing refugees or temporarily of displaced persons, latvia was one of the first countries that provided us with military assistance, you gave us your own stinger anti-aircraft systems, which helped a lot during the defense of kyiv, i am defective do you still continue to provide us with military aid i can answer yes but without any details although military aid military equipment continues to arrive in ukraine that is why my answer is yes th

latvia giving assistance to accommodate and feed these refugees?res. levits: there are over 3 million refugees already. 2 million of them are in poland. more or less, 10,000 or less that 10,000 in lafayette. because we don't have a direct border with ukraine and we are welcoming ukrainian refugees and all of the assistance which is needed. so we should be ready to have refugees and the locking people welcoming the refugees. because after the second world war, many latvians were also refugees, they came through sweden, germany and immigrated to the united states, there is a big lesbian community. and now there's a second world war messaging. we are welcoming ukrainian refugees and trying to help with all necessary help that they need. missy: how does lafayette plan to reduce its dependence on russian energy supplies and more broadly, how do you think europe can wean itself off of russian oil and gas without jeopardizing the climate change goals that it has? pres. levits: in lafayette, we should not overestimate our dependence from russian energy. ap