EU position

EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told Latvian Foreign Minister Sandra Kalniete in Brussels on 16 October that the recent statement by the Russian Duma condemning Latvia's human rights record was unjustified, BNS reported. He reiterated the EU position that Latvia has complied with all international requirements concerning human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities. Regarding calls in the Russian Duma to impose economic sanctions on Latvia to enforce its statement, Verheugen said that as soon as Latvia becomes a member of the EU in May 2004, it will automatically become a member of the common EU market and any economic sanctions against Latvia would be against the EU as a whole.