Far From Brussels, Latvians Are European At Heart

Rezekne, Latvia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd May, 2019 ) :A Latvian border guard helicopter hovers over a vast forest split by a long, narrow strip of sandy land where a fence topped with barbed wire marks the EU's border with Russia.

Fifteen years after Latvia joined both NATO and the European Union, the Baltic state's remote Latgale region -- closer to Moscow than to Brussels -- is among the bloc's poorest areas, but its residents are staunchly pro-European.

Smuggling cheap alcohol and cigarettes from Russia has been a mainstay of the local economy since Latvia regained its independence in 1991 after a half century of Soviet occupation.

A growing stream of illegal migrants crossing over from Russia, mostly from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Syria, prompted Latvian authorities to start building the fence in 2016 to protect a 300-kilometre (186-mile) stretch of the EU's eastern border.

As Latgale gears up to vote in European Parliamentary elections on May 25, locals may differ on the candidates they choose, but there is no doubt that pro-European sentiment prevails overall, largely thanks to the EU's generous development subsidies and open markets.

A eurozone member of 1.9 million, Latvia has absorbed a net 7.2 billion Euros ($8.1 billion at the current rate) in EU subsidies since 2004, making it the bloc's fourth-largest beneficiary per capita.