• High officials called residents to be united in ceremonial speeches on the Independence Day

According to the State President’s Andris Berzins ceremonial speech in honour of the Independence Day on 18 November, it is the last moment for the Latvian residents to become united and decisive, to put away stereotypes about what it means to be an ethnic Latvian, about “us” and “others”, because the representatives of all nations who live in the country honour and respect its language, traditions and symbols and have proved that they can work together and take responsibility of themselves and the country during crucial moments. The President also stated “by searching and fighting enemies, we destroy our good will and devalue our noblest goals and, as a result, turn against ourselves.” The Speaker of the Saeima Solvita Aboltina, in her ceremonial speech stated that the ability to live harmony is a value and should be maintained. Mrs Aboltina stated that there are no “us” and “them” because there is one nation, one Latvia, one common future. Latvijas Avize

• Draft law stipulate the procedures for becoming ethnic Latvian
• Nationalists’ union repeatedly submitted proposal on voluntary record on person’s ethnic belonging in passports
• Telegraf prints an article about criteria of evaluation of naturalisation test
• Free-of-charge Latvian language courses for residents of eastern Latvia

The Saeima’s faction Unity prepared a draft law stipulating the procedures whereby an ethnic non-Latvian can officially change his/her ethnic belonging for ethnic Latvian. According to the draft amendments, applicants for Latvian ethnic identity would have to match four criteria: to be a Latvian citizen; to be permanent resident of Latvia for at least past 15 years; to be proficient in Latvian language for the highest level; and to feel belonging to Latvian culture. Persons matching the mentioned criteria will have the right to apply to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs asking to change record on ethnic belonging for ethnic Latvian in the registry of residents. Vesti Segodnya

Yesterday, the Saeima forwarded a repeated proposal of the nationalists’ union All for Latvia-FF/LNIM on voluntary record on person’s ethnic belonging in passports to the parliamentary commissions. As reported, couple of weeks ago, Saeima refused to support such proposal. However the nationalists’ union made one more attempt and submitted the same proposal again. Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya

Telegraf prints an article about criteria of evaluation of test for naturalisation. Reacting to accusations that the criteria are kept in secrecy, the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs published the evaluation criteria on the Internet for public access. There are two parts of the naturalisation test – Latvian language proficiency test (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) and test on Latvian history, knowledge of the Constitutional basis and state anthem.

Residents of Dagda, Daugavpils and Kraslava (cities in the eastern part of Latvia) are offered free-of-charge Latvian language courses. Upon completion of courses the attendees will have an opportunity to pass a language test paid by the State Education Content Centre. Neatkariga

• NGOs appeal to the European Commission and the Council of Europe regarding the problem of non-citizenship in Latvia

The Union of Citizens and Non-citizens sent an open letter to the European Commission (EC) asking to help Latvia with elaboration of a plan for solution of problem with large scale non-citizenship in Latvia. According to one of the authors of the letter Elizabete Krivcova, Latvia has promised the EC to solve the existing problem before becoming member of the European Union, however, did not fulfil its promises. Movement “For Equal Rights”, in its turn, appealed to the Council of Europe asking to respond to the decision of the Central Elections Committee of Latvia which refused to pass the draft law on granting Latvian citizenship to non-citizens for the second stage of the national referendum. Activists of the movement wait from the Council of Europe to elaborate clear objective rules on evaluation of the draft law proposed for the referendum. Chas, Vesti Segodnya

• Saeima’s subcommittee propose forbid granting citizenship to persons with tax debts

The Saeima’s subcommittee on elaboration of the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law conceptually supported a proposal stipulating that a person who has tax debts cannot apply for Latvian citizenship. The proposal does not specify the amount of debt. Representatives of the oppositional party Concord Centre criticized such proposal arguing that it will hinder the naturalisation process even more. Vesti Segodnya

• Periodical of Armenian community “Ararat” celebrates 10 years anniversary

Vesti Segodnya reports about a 10 years anniversary a periodical of Armenian community “Ararat” edited in Riga. According to an editor of the periodical, its aim is to unite Armenians, inform about the life of the community in Latvia and other parts of the world, and to popularise Armenian culture. According to the Register of Residents, there are about 3,000 ethnic Armenians residing in Latvia.