• The President and the Prime Minister of Latvia greets everyone on Orthodox Christmas
• Critics on the statements about the monuments in Riga
• Interview with school psychologist Irina Philipova on bilingual education

Yesterday, the President and the Prime Minister of Latvia made official statements for the Orthodox Christmas. According the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers, mutual understanding in religious and ethnic diversity is one of the treasures of Latvia.

Yesterday, the President and the Prime Minister of Latvia made official statements for the Orthodox Christmas. According the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers, mutual understanding in religious and ethnic diversity is one of the treasures of Latvia. Chas

Vesti Segodnya criticizes member of party For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (TB/LNNK) Helmi Stalte on her statement about the Victory monument (for the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945) and renovation of Victory Column (for the victory over Napoleon in 1812) in Riga. According to the article, Helmi Stalte said that those are not Latvian victories, those are Russian victories.

In an interview with

In an interview with Vesti Segodnya, school psychologist Irina Philipova stated that bilingual education lead to the burn out of school students. Russian schools now are under great pressure of Latvian language. As a result, children mix up Cyrillic and Latin letters, literacy is decreasing, Russian school students are more loaded than the Latvian school students, and the brains of the students cant take so much information at once.

• Illegally in Latvia since 1995
• Interview on monuments in Riga

Vesti Segodnya reports that at the end of 2008, Latvian Border Guard arrested 46 year old citizen of Russia, who lived in Latvia since 1995 illegally. Latvian Border Guard started investigation process.

Latvijas Avize interviewed Head of Culture, Arts and Religion Committee of Riga City Council and representative of party For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (TB/LNNK) Helmi Stalte about the monuments in Riga. She said that recent decision of Riga City Council on renovation of Victory monument in Riga is jeering at those Latvian people who suffered Communist regime.

• Interview with political scientist and publicist Sandris Tocs on involvement of Russians in the government
• Fake language control
• Investigation continues on illegal transportation of five Syrian citizens
• The President of Latvia will greet everybody on Orthodox Christmas
• Security police anticipates increase of radicalism

In an interview with

In an interview with Vesti Segonya, political scientist and publicist Sandris Tocs encouraged Latvian politicians to invite Russians to the government as soon as possible. He also stated that after the 17 years of independence people in Latvia have to leave stereotypes and prejudices, because such attitude only provokes tensions between two groups of the society.

Last year a group of young nationalists, a part of party All for Latvia, visited a lot of companies to test the Latvian language knowledge of their workers. After that in the website “Sargi valodu” (protect the language) this group published a black list of companies that workers don’t speak Latvian language well enough. They promised that visits will continue this year.

Last year a group of young nationalists, a part of party All for Latvia, visited a lot of companies to test the Latvian language knowledge of their workers. After that in the website Sargi valodu (protect the language) this group published a black list of companies that workers dont speak Latvian language well enough. They promised that visits will continue this year. Vesti Segonya

Investigation continues on case of illegal transportation of five citizens of Syria over Latvian border in September 2008. There are five people arrested, three of them Latvian citizens, one legal resident of Latvia and one citizen of Lithuania. Investigation will continue for up to three months. The Border Guards noted that this is not the first group of Syrian citizens. According to the Border Guards, Latvia is just a transit country for illegal migration destined to other EU countries.

Investigation continues on case of illegal transportation of five citizens of Syria over Latvian border in September 2008. There are five people arrested, three of them Latvian citizens, one legal resident of Latvia and one citizen of Lithuania. Investigation will continue for up to three months. The Border Guards noted that this is not the first group of Syrian citizens. According to the Border Guards, Latvia is just a transit country for illegal migration destined to other EU countries. Vesti Segodnya

Tomorrow, the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers will greet all Orthodox Christians and Old Believers in their coming Christmas. “We have to be united in this critical situation of our country!” says Valdis Zatlers. As reported, there are still discussions of including Orthodox Christmas in the official Latvian calendar. Latvia has more than 300’000 Orthodox Christians, reports

Tomorrow, the President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers will greet all Orthodox Christians and Old Believers in their coming Christmas. We have to be united in this critical situation of our country! says Valdis Zatlers. As reported, there are still discussions of including Orthodox Christmas in the official Latvian calendar. Latvia has more than 300000 Orthodox Christians, reports Diena.

Security police anticipates that where will be increase of radicalism from right and left wing extremists. Increase is anticipated for the period of municipal and European Parliament elections in June, 2009.

Security police anticipates that where will be increase of radicalism from right and left wing extremists. Increase is anticipated for the period of municipal and European Parliament elections in June, 2009. Diena

Changes in the Saeima Human Rights Commission

Previous Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration Oskars Kastens will renew his  status as MP, meanwhile Head of the Saeima Human Rights Commission Janis Smits will loose his position as MP and as Head of the Human Rights Commission. Janis Smits replaced Oskars Kastens as an MP while the latter occupied position of the Special Assignments Minister. Janis Smits has been famous for his intolerance towards gay and lesbian community.

Previous Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration Oskars Kastens will renew his status as MP, meanwhile Head of the Saeima Human Rights Commission Janis Smits will loose his position as MP and as Head of the Human Rights Commission. Janis Smits replaced Oskars Kastens as an MP while the latter occupied position of the Special Assignments Minister. Janis Smits has been famous for his intolerance towards gay and lesbian community. Latvijas Avize

• Political scientist Ivars Ijabs anticipates increase of radicalism
• Orthodox Christmas will not be officially celebrated in 2009
• Interview with representatives of Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration

In the interview with

In the interview with Chas, political scientist Ivars Ijabs stated that he anticipates increased radicalisation and growing strength of nationalists. He mentioned that political party For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (TB/LNNK) recently launched ridiculous TV advertisement, where a Russian couple refuses to buy Christmas tree when they find out that tree is from Latvia. Also Head of Peoples party and Minister of Interior Mareks Seglins said that he will not speak Russian anymore. Chas

After a discussion about adding Orthodox Christmas to Latvian calendar a new discussion started on how two extra holidays can harm Latvian economy. It is unlikely that Orthodox Christmas will be officially celebrated in 2009.

After a discussion about adding Orthodox Christmas to Latvian calendar a new discussion started on how two extra holidays can harm Latvian economy. It is unlikely that Orthodox Christmas will be officially celebrated in 2009. Telegraf

Latvijas Avize interviewed representatives of the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration (Secretariat) - Deniss Hanovs, Director of National Minority Affairs Department and Aleksandra Rostovceva, Senior Officer of National Minorty Coordination Unit about the results of the Secretariats work, ethnic minority NGOs, radicalism, political criticism and the institutional reform. Deniss Hanovs said that it doesnt matter how the next institution will be called, the most important thing is to continue the work of the Secretariat. Latvijas Avize