On October 31, journalist and TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak demanded that Latvian authorities explain the reasons for banning her and her husband, director Konstantin Bogomolov, from entering Latvia.
“I haven’t been to Latvia in a long time,” Sobchak wrote on Telegram, “but can I provide some justification? Or do they just appoint someone as a European commissioner—and then you can censure any person for ‘not liking’?”
The journalist noted she was not upset by the restrictions but questioned whether there were sufficient grounds for such a decision. She also suggested that the ban could serve as a demonstration of the fight against the “Russian threat” through her interviews and Bogomolov’s performances.
Sobchak highlighted that Russian artists and entrepreneurs have invested in Latvia’s economy and cultural life for years, organizing concerts and festivals, bringing renowned performers, making films, and staging shows. According to her, instead of gratitude, they received bans—a move she described as “a stupid demonstration that speaks only of impotence.”
On the same day, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braje banned Sobchak and Bogomolov from entering Latvia indefinitely and added them to the list of undesirable persons. Braje did not provide any reasons for the decision.
