Parties spread unverified anti-immigrant claims before Latvian elections

As elections approach, some political parties are increasingly using social media to spread fear about immigrants, including through lies and distorted facts, LSM’s Re:Check fact-checking project reports.

The narratives claim that immigrants attack Latvian women, that London is building new homes exclusively for Muslims and that Brussels is populated by “who knows what”. Re:Check examined several of these claims about immigrants in the European Union.

Right-wing activists and election candidates have increasingly accused third-country immigrants of harassing and sexually assaulting Latvian women. Their posts have been accompanied by racist comments, increasingly aggressive calls for retaliation and appeals to vote for particular political forces.

The stories about violent immigrants began circulating in late June, after lawyer Gita Vilcane wrote on the social media platform X that two immigrants had sexually assaulted her in central Riga. Latvian Television also reported the claim. It triggered widespread public reaction, and police opened criminal proceedings on their own initiative.

However, the investigation found that no crime had taken place. “This is not a case where the evidence was insufficient; we have proved that it did not happen,” police chief Armands Ruks told Latvijas Radio.

Police are now investigating whether Vilcane deliberately provided false information and misled the public. She regularly criticises immigrants on social media.

Vilcane was previously an election candidate on the National Alliance list and a board member of Austošā saule, an association described in the report as far-right.

Her unsupported account is the most prominent, but not the only unverified story being shared. In July, a person described in the report as right-wing wrote on X about a friend who had allegedly defended a woman in Tallinn Quarter from 30 Pakistanis. Several National Alliance politicians shared the post.