Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics has said a planned concert by the Russian armed forces' official choir, known as the Alexandrov Ensemble, is "not wanted" in the Baltic state.
In an interview broadcast on Latvian television on November 2, Rinkevics described the choir as a "military unit" and said Russia should send an official request to Latvian officials concerning the concert scheduled for December 8.
In October, a culture center in the Lithuanian city of Visaginas canceled a concert by the Alexandrov Ensemble scheduled for December, citing the "ideological connotations of the choir's program."
The Baltic states -- Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia -- have expressed concern over Russia's actions in neighboring Ukraine and an apparent increase in Russian military activities in close proximity to their NATO and EU partners.