Aivars Lembergs – the former mayor of Ventspils who has been sanctioned by the U.S. and U.K., and who has been sentenced to prison by Latvian courts more than once following an astonishingly protracted trial – has had his latest legal manoeuvre unceremoniously kicked into touch by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

46 countries of the Council of Europe signed the Chisinau Declaration. In it, they demand a change in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the rights of migrants, because it "does not sufficiently respond" to new challenges. In institutions dealing with human rights, the so-called Chisinau Process raises objections.