"Following the Russian military aggression against Ukraine the European Commission has suspended the cooperation with Russia in the European Neighbourhood Instrument cross-border cooperation programs (ENI), including cooperation within Latvia-Russia Cross-border Cooperation Program 2014-2020," said an official announcement.
No further payments related to Russian participation in the program will be made to Russia and Russian representatives will not participate in any meetings and work related to the program.
"The decision is in line with the right to suspend the ENI cooperation program in case of breach of the international legal obligation relating to respect of human rights, democratic principles, and rule of law," said a justification for the move.
Project partners on the Latvian side of the border will be informed about further steps.
Moreover, the cooperation with Russia within the new programming period 2021-2027 is also suspended.
Latvia-Russia Cross-border Cooperation Program 2014-2020 is designed to support joint efforts addressing cross-border development challenges and is co-financed by the European Union, the Republic of Latvia and the Russian Federation. The total budget of 27 million euros was provided to support CBC projects implementation to make cross-border regions a better and more sustainable place to live, travel and develop business ideas.
Partners from Latvia and Russia were working together in 21 projects.
