Political hate speech fuels aggression against immigrants, experts say

Hateful and racist statements by politicians can have dangerous consequences and increase aggression in society, experts told LSM. They said politicians seeking votes before elections by focusing on migration risk spreading false stories and intensifying hostility.

Videos containing crude and cruel attacks on immigrants, including food delivery couriers, have appeared on social media. Experts said such violent messages had become more frequent. One video was created with the help of artificial intelligence.

Racist abuse was also reported during celebrations in Sabile. An Indian student who has worked as a courier for two years and did not want to reveal his identity told LSM that he had faced threats in Riga.

“I am not judging any particular nationality, for example Russians or perhaps Latvians. But mostly Russians are completely rude to us: ‘Why are you here?’ So I also ask, why are you here? We are immigrants too. Russians are immigrants too. Everyone who is not from Latvia is an immigrant. And the man simply told me: ‘Get out of this country today. And if you do not leave, I will hit you.’ So that is an ordinary story. I simply ignored him and went on my way,” the student said.

Experts also highlighted a case involving an alleged attack by immigrants on a woman. The facts were not confirmed, and police said the woman had lied about being attacked by migrants in central Riga. Law enforcement officers said they would establish her motivation.

“The most shocking thing was not even the incident itself, but the way some politicians reacted, including by spreading false information and sharing it without checking the facts. They rushed to announce that we would deport all of them as a group, equating these people with monkeys. I do not know where else we could draw the line against racism more clearly,” said Inta Mieriņa, a migration researcher, sociologist and tenured professor at the University of Latvia.

Mieriņa warned that when politicians holding senior positions speak in this way, their words can have dangerous consequences.

“At some point, we may find that this has real consequences, that people will begin physically attacking these individuals. That is what I am afraid of,” she said.