Integration monitor is a daily Latvian press digest on ethnic minority and society integration issues. The Monitor reviews the biggest Latvian dailies: Diena, Latvijas Avize, Neatkariga (in Latvian language), Vesti Segodnya (in Russian language). In specific cases other information sources are used. Latvian Centre for Human Rights is not responsible for information published by the media.

• Government has approved the draft amendments to the Administrative Violations Code stipulating liability for using foreign language texts on seals, blanks, titles, signboards and in reports
• Councillor of the political party New Era Dans Titavs: President of Latvia and the Prime Minister should not speak Russian language
• Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament will consider a petition to review the minority schools reform in Latvia

Yesterday, the Government has approved the draft amendments to the Administrative Violations Code which stipulate fines for using foreign language texts on seals, blanks, titles, signboards and in reports of organisations and enterprises if the law stipulates that this information should be provided in state language. The Employers’ Confederation of Latvia has expressed its dissatisfaction with the amendments and pointed out that imposing administrative penalties for provision of information in other languages alongside the state language is absurd, disproportional and contradicts the principles of good governance.

Yesterday, the Government has approved the draft amendments to the Administrative Violations Code which stipulate fines for using foreign language texts on seals, blanks, titles, signboards and in reports of organisations and enterprises if the law stipulates that this information should be provided in state language. The Employers Confederation of Latvia has expressed its dissatisfaction with the amendments and pointed out that imposing administrative penalties for provision of information in other languages alongside the state language is absurd, disproportional and contradicts the principles of good governance. Vesti Segodnya, Latvijas Avize

Councillor of the political party New Era Dans Titavs in an interview with

Councillor of the political party New Era Dans Titavs in an interview with Latvijas Avize has stated that the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers and the Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis should not speak Russian language at public because it ruins prestige of the state language. Latvijas Avize (1.04), Chas, Vesti Segodnya

Chas reports that the Committee on Petitions of the European Parliament will consider a petition to review the minority schools reform in Latvia and to grant ethnic minorities the right to study in their native languages. The newspaper prints opinion of the Association of Russian Culture, Education and Science (ARKONA in its Russian acronym) criticizing a note by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Committee on Petitions explaining the situation in Latvia. According to the ARKONA, the note reflects false statements about the real situation with education in minority schools. Particularly, the ARKONA criticizes statements that it is possible to receive secondary education in Latvia in eight ethnic minority languages and that demand for education in Russian language has decreased. According to the ARKONA, full-fledged secondary education in Latvia is available only in three minority languages – Russian, Ukrainian and Polish, while demand for education in Russian is high.