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.

• Aigars Kalvitis: the government will develop amendments to the Citizenship Law which will prohibit grant of Latvian citizenship to ‘persons disloyal to Latvia
• Article about the situation of Roma in Latvias job market
• Interview with the Head of the Saeima National Security Committee Indulis Emsis
• Head of the Human Rights Institute of the University of Latvia Arturs Kucs talks about intolerance in society
• Interview with the film director Janis Streics and the deputy director of the Occupation Museum of Latvia Valters Nollendorfs about ethnic relations in Latvia

Vesti Segodnya sharply criticises the recent statements of the Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis. In his interview with the Latvian Television the Prime Minister stated that ‘the government will develop amendments to the Citizenship Law, which will prohibit the grant of Latvian citizenship to persons disloyal to Latvia. Vesti Segodnya argues that the goal of these amendments is to deprive members of the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian-language Schools of Latvian citizenship and to prevent the influx of new citizens. The representative of Latvia to the Councils of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Boris Cilevics comments that Europe will not permit that a state refuses to grant citizenship because of ideological or political reasons.

Diena prints an article about the situation of Roma in Latvias job market. Although the National Human Rights Bureau have received only few complaints about discrimination of Roma in the labour market, experts estimate that the official employment level of Roma in Latvia does not exceed 5%, besides in majority of cases Roma have low-paid and low-skilled jobs. The newspaper interviews the teacher of Roma origin Tamara Cica, who believes that employers are ill-disposed towards Roma. The teacher also mentions several cases when employers refused to employ Roma on the basis of their ethnicity. The researcher of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies Dace Lukumiete states that it is difficult to prove that employers have refused to employ Roma because of their ethnic origin; however, no court cases on discrimination of Roma in the job market in Latvia have been initiated yet.

Latvijas Avize features an interview with the Head of the Saeima National Security Committee Indulis Emsis. When asked to comment on the situation concerning commemoration of WW II Latvian Legionnaires, he states that the goal of such actions is to incite to national hatred. According to Emsis, it is necessary to amend legislation so that the usage of communism and Nazi symbols would be banned and registration of some organisations, such as, national-Bolsheviks would not be possible.

Telegraf prints an interview with the head of the Human Rights Institute of the University of Latvia Arturs Kucs about human rights situation in Latvia. When asked about the situation concerning tolerance in society, Kucs states that there are many radicals on both sides – Russians and Latvians, however only two court cases regarding incitement to national hatred have been initiated till now. He notes that the key reasons are that effective legal norms, which prohibit national hatred, do not work in practice and that legal norms of the Criminal Law stipulates that it should be proved that a person incited to national hatred intentionally. However, the Head of the Human Rights Institute warns that stricter norms and authorities may have side effects: restrictions on the freedom of expression and others. He suggests another solution how to deal with radical media and politicians: if a person has read an article aimed against other ethnicities, s/he should sue politician/media for defamation.

Latvijas Avize prints an interview with the film director Janis Streics and the deputy director of the Occupation Museum of Latvia Valters Nollendorfs about ethnic relations in Latvia and ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Janis Streics believes that the situation around the implementation of the minority education reform and the usage of the Russian language has been politically exaggerated. Valters Nollendorfs, however, believes that the number of persons, who do not feel anything common with this state, will lessen because of changes of generations. According to Nollendorfs, both Latvians and non-Latvians have to see themselves as members of one society. When asked to comment on ratification of the Framework Convention, Streics argues that Russians should not call themselves a national minority as they have their motherland by the Latvias border. Valters Nollendorfs believes that the Convention should be ratified with reservations and it should be applied only to those ethnic minorities who lived in pre-war Latvia.