RIGA, Feb 16 (LETA) - Valerijs Petrovs, a member of the Riga City Council, informed LETA on Monday that he is leaving the opposition Stability faction because of differing opinions.

Petrovs says in a statement that he will work on the city council as an independent councilor.

"I believe that support for the Ukrainian people is very important and I want to continue my political support without obstacles or disagreements. On this issue, I do not share the same position as the Stability party and I have decided to withdraw from the faction in the Riga City Council," Petrovs said.

While respecting the right of the party leader Aleksejs Roslikovs to his opinion, Petrovs categorically refuses "to support any political movement that is linked to the course of the current Russian leadership".

Until now, the Stability faction in the Riga City Council included its leader Roslikovs, his deputy Jakovs Pliners, as well as Petrovs and Nikolajs Kabanovs.

Earlier this month, three MPs - Ilja Ivanovs, Igors Judins, and Amils Salimovs - have quit the Stability faction in the Saeima, leaving the opposition faction with five members, which is the minimum number necessary to form a parliamentary faction.

Svetlana Culkova, chairperson of the Stability faction, told LETA that the three lawmakers could not cope with pressure on the party and decided that they would be better off as independent MPs.

As reported, the Prosecutor General's Office has completed a probe into whether the activities of Stability comply with the requirements of the Law on Political Parties, and issued a warning to the party.

The warning was issued because the Prosecutor General's Office identified violations of the provisions of paragraphs 4 and 5 of Section 7 of the Law on Political Parties. These provisions stipulate that parties are prohibited in their activities from taking action against the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Latvia or other democratic countries, from expressing or disseminating proposals for violent amendment of the state structure of the Republic of Latvia or another democratic country, from encouraging noncompliance with the laws if it endangers national security, public safety or order, from propagating violence or terrorism, from popularizing war, from carrying out acts directed toward triggering national hatred or enmity, from praising or encouraging criminal offenses.