ANKARA

Latvia’s parliament on Thursday officially designated Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” according to local media.

The Latvian parliament, Saeima, called on EU countries to limit the issuance of tourism and entry visas to Russian and Belarusian citizens, the country's public broadcaster LSM reported.

“The Saeima stresses that Russia uses suffering and intimidation as an instrument in its attempts to demoralize the Ukrainian people and armed forces.

"The Saeima acknowledges Russia's violence against civilians, which is being pursued for political purposes, as terrorism, and Russia as a country supporting terrorism, and calls on other similar-thinking countries to express such an opinion,” said the statement, quoted by LSM.

“Parliamentarians categorically condemn the military aggression and large-scale invasion of Ukraine with the support and engagement of the Belarusian regime," it noted.

The parliament also called on "the Euro-Atlantic Community and its partners to urgently step up and introduce comprehensive sanctions against Russia, including the European Union Member States to immediately suspend tourism and limit the issuance of entry visas to citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus.”

At least 5,401 civilians have been killed and 7,466 injured since the Russia-Ukraine war began on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates. The true toll is believed to be much higher.