MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. Latvian legislators’ idea to declare Russia as a "terrorist state" is a hostile action and part and parcel of the overall anti-Russian hysteria, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary on Monday.

"On August 2 this year, the foreign affairs commission of the Latvian parliament approved the initiative for recognizing Russia as a ‘state supporting terrorism.’ In the next step the issue will be considered at a meeting of the Latvian parliament (the closest date is August 11)," Zakharova said. "This latest hostile step by the Latvian legislators fits in perfectly with the anti-Russian hysteria unleashed by Riga. The responsibility for this should be placed squarely on the Latvian side, which, first of all, should stop to think about the disastrous consequences for Latvia itself and its residents such provocative steps can entail."

Zakharova said that the Latvian ruling elite’s "pathological Russophobia" had already caused serious economic and social problems in that Baltic country and ruined the standard of living.

"It will only get worse further on. Many politicians and experts point to this. In particular, Nil Ushakov, a member of the European Parliament and former mayor of Riga, predicts a catastrophe equal in scale to that of the 1990s in Latvia and calls for declaring a ‘state of social emergency’," she added.

"Isn't it time for the Latvian legislators to finally stop being puppets of their overseas masters to become full-fledged representatives of their people who care about their fate?" Zakharova said.

The Latvian parliament’s foreign affairs commission on August 2 approved a draft statement recognizing Russia as a "terrorist state", which its chairman, Rihards Kols, announced earlier in his social networks. The statement will be sent to parliament for consideration at the forthcoming session of parliament.