• Riga Stradins University conducted a study on the level of aggression or hatred in the Latvian Internet

Vesti Segodnya and Latvijas Avize reports about a study on the level of aggression or hatred in the Latvian Internet conducted by researchers of the Riga Stradins University. The researchers explored aggressive comments on the local news portals.  According to the results of the study, about 10-20% comments are aggressive and those are published every day. The number of aggressive comments on Latvian and Russian language portals is quite the same. The majority of aggressive comments are published under the topics concerning international events and national policy. 

• Vesti Segodnya prints an article about state language inspections in Russian schools 
• Diena reports that some local council allow its workers to take day-off on Orthodox Christmas

Vesti Segodnya prints an article about state language inspections in Russian schools.  The majority of interviewed school representatives say that there were no inspections during last couple years and no teachers got dismissed due to poor Latvian language proficiency. If the inspection finds that a teacher has insufficient state language proficiency he/she can be fined and given 3-4 months for its improvement. According to schools’ directors, the inspectors of the State Language Centre might come with inspection of whole school personnel and following anonymous complaints about specific teacher. Director of a Russian school in Riga where the inspection was conducted recently says that there are several teachers with insufficient state language proficiency in the school and they all got fined. Mostly, those are teachers who graduated from Russia’s higher education establishments and who do not work bilingually – teachers of Russian or foreign language and teachers of elementary schools aged between 50-60 years.

Diena reports that despite the fact that the Orthodox and Old Believers’ Christmas celebrated on 7 January is not official public holiday in Latvia, some local councils allow its workers to take a day-off. Such practice works for several years in Rezekne (city in the Eastern part of Latvia) and this year also in Riga. As reported, the oppositional party the Concord every year submits a proposal to grant the Orthodox Christmas status of official holiday in Latvia, however, it gets turned down by the majority of the MPs. But this year the majority of the Saeima voted to forward such proposal to the parliamentary committees.

• European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn: Baltic States might face with influx of asylum seekers
• Vesti Segodnya reports about free-of-charge Latvian language courses

The European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn stated that the Baltic States might face with influx of asylum seekers in the near future. According to the Commissioner, there are many refugees arriving to Sweden, therefore, it is possible that the Baltic States also can expect the influx of refugees from the South neighbour countries of the EU.

Vesti Segodnya reports about free-of-charge Latvian language courses for third-country nationals residing in Latvia.  The Riga City Council will organise courses in Riga. An NGO “Shelter. Save House” will also organise courses in Riga and five other Latvian towns. Besides Latvian language learning, the NGO will also provide lessons on national culture, traditions and landmarks.

• Building of an NGO Russian Community in Liepaja attacked on 26 December
• Prime Minister: bilingual education has proven its efficiency
• The Ministry of Interior proposes to grant the Cabinet of Ministers rights to evaluate impact of temporary residence permits on national security or economic development

Vesti Segodnya reports about attack on a building of an NGO Russian Community in Liepaja (city in the South-Western part of Latvia) in the early morning of 26 December. Unknown persons knocked out the front doors’ glass and placed in it Latvia’s flag. Representatives of the Russian Community in Liepaja believe that it was not only act of hooliganism and vandalism but also desecration of the state flag and attempt of incitement of ethnic hatred.

Vesti Segodnya interviews the Prime Minister of Latvia Laimdota Straujuma. The Prime Minister believes that bilingual education has proven its efficiency and there is no need for major changes. Mrs Straujuma believes that ethnic minority schools are better aware how to improve education system and how to consolidate ethnic Latvians and non-Latvians. She also believes that it is important to consider how to establish common informative space in order to inform Russian speaking residents about events happening in the state. 

The Ministry of Interior proposes to grant the Cabinet of Ministers rights to evaluate impact of temporary residence permits on national security or economic development and to set restrictions for issuing of permits for a specified time frame in case of potential risks. The draft law stipulates that the Cabinet of Ministers will evaluate impact of the number of third country nationals or their concentration on a specific territory on national security or economic development. The restriction would apply only to those foreigners who want to receive residence permits in return for investments in Latvian economy or purchase of expensive real estate. According to the Ministry, some of the potential risks are division of the civil society, formation of closed self-sufficient communities of a specific ethnic group of third country nationals whose integration could be embarrassing or even impossible. The Ministry stresses that growing migration intensity increases risks of ethnic conflicts and hate crimes. Diena

• The Minister of Education denies the transition of minority schools to teaching in state language was withheld because of concerns over possible protests during Latvia’s EU 2015 presidency
• International conference "The Rights of the Child. Contemporary Challenges" held in Riga 

Vesti Segodnya interviews the Minister of Education Marite Seile. The Minister denies the claim that the decision to withhold the transition of national minority schools to teaching in the state language was motivated by an "order from Brussels", which allegedly was concerned with possible protests against the transition by representatives of national minorities during the first half of 2015, when Latvia will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union. As reported, the previous government co-operation agreement foresaw the raising of the proportion of Latvian language instruction to 80% in national minority schools at the secondary school level. Several protest actions were held during 2014 to stop the move. The Minister did not name specific reason to withhold the transition, yet stated that she heard positive opinions about the present system of national minority schools and that other countries are using it as a good example. According to the Minister, the next step will be to prepare more education materials for teaching the state language in minority kindergartens. Regarding the frequent inspections by the Education Quality State Service and the State Language Inspection in schools, the Minister believes that if the schools were given complete freedom, the chaos might prevail. 

Vesti Segodnya reports about international conference "The Rights of the Child. Contemporary Challenges" organised in Riga by the Latvian Human Rights Committee. Participants also highlighted that education in native language of the child ensures the child’s successful learning of the subjects and intellectual development. According to Dr Fernand de Varennes, a number of international documents determine the rights of minorities in education, yet these documents are mostly of advisory nature. The authorities shall evaluate the situation by three parameters: demand for education in minority language, the size of minority population and possibilities of the state to provide these rights. Participants of the conference drew attention to the provision of the right to education in minority languages in Austria (Burgenland) and Italy (Trentino-Alto Adige).