Latvia has banned three popular Russian musicians from entering the country amid the crisis in Ukraine, the Baltic Times reports.
Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said Oleg Gazmanov, Joseph Kobzon and Alla Perfilova (stage name Valeria) would be blacklisted from attending ‘high society’ events in Latvia for being “apologists of Russian imperialism and aggression.”
Karlis Eihenbaums, press secretary to Rinkevics, said the decision came after the downing of a Malaysian Airlines flight last week that killed all 298 on board.
It’s not known which “high society events” the musicians have been banned, however, he did not rule out the possibility that it concerned this week’s international popular music competition “New Wave 2014” in Jurmala, as “some of the people who want to be there could be directly connected with the tragedy.”
Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the tragedy.
