“First of all, there is sadness over the tormenting and basically murdering of one good person. We can only sympathize with his widow, his family and the handful of sane people in Russia who are his supporters,” Vike-Freiberga said.
She said that the torture of Russian oppositionist Navalny in prison for three years was like a test carried out by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for malicious purposes.
“That torture of Navalny for three years, so that he would stay alive and yet be able to sadistically take revenge on him for rebelling against the black tsar, was like a bait to enlighten those who support Navalny’s ideas.
So that they come out on the streets and then they can be identified and arrested, and put a heavy paw on any kind of protests and alternative thinking,” concluded the ex-president of Latvia, adding that it has also succeeded in Russia.
According to her, Putin is ready for any crazy step. Therefore, the countries neighboring Russia in the Baltic region must be vigilant and actively work on their defense.
“I think the whole world has to deal with the worst-case scenario. In our case, that means continuing to work hard on strengthening our defense capabilities. That means [spējas] In the Baltic region, from Finland to Poland, along the entire eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. (..) This entire region must be strengthened in such a way that it becomes capable of defending itself.
If the Russian leader makes a crazy decision [Putins]NATO forces would be able to use their full potential to oppose him and really defeat him,” said Vīke-Freiberga.
The actions of Finland and Sweden show that Russia’s potential threat should be taken seriously. Until recently, they loudly opposed joining NATO, but after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they radically changed their position and submitted applications for membership in the alliance, added the ex-president of Latvia.
CONTEXT:
The Russian Prison Service announced on Friday, February 16, that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who had been imprisoned since 2021, had died in a correctional colony. Navalny was transferred to a special regime colony at the end of December last year, which was built in the 1960s on the site of the former Gulag camp.
After the news about Navalny’s death, the president of Latvia and the leaders of several other countries pointed to the Kremlin’s responsibility. Meanwhile, Kremlin opponents who have left Russia are more direct – they call Navalny’s death a murder. Addressing those gathered at the Munich Security Conference, Navalny’s wife Yulia announced that Russian leader Putin and his associates will not go unpunished.
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2024-02-20 20:25:42
#VīkeFreiberga #Putin #Navalny #alive #bait #enlighten #supporters
