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.

• 30 MPs submitted a claim to the Constitutional Court asking to evaluate whether the national referendum on granting Russian language status of a state language in Latvian contradicts the Constitution
• For Equal Rights actively calls upon Latvian citizens to sign in support of the initiative granting Latvian citizenship to all non-citizens
• Riga City Council allocates LVL 60,000 for Latvian language courses
• Telegraf publishes two letters from its readers with their views on relations among ethnic Russians and Latvians

Yesterday, 30 MPs, mostly from the nationalists’ union and the Unity, submitted a claim to the Constitutional Court asking the Court evaluate whether the national referendum on granting Russian the status of a state language in Latvian contradicts the Constitution of Latvia. The majority of interviewed experts consider the move  belated, and believe that it increases more ethnic tension and also express concerns whether such democratic process as people’s voting in the national referedum can be stopped in the middle of the process.

Yesterday, 30 MPs, mostly from the nationalists union and the Unity, submitted a claim to the Constitutional Court asking the Court evaluate whether the national referendum on granting Russian the status of a state language in Latvian contradicts the Constitution of Latvia. The majority of interviewed experts consider the move belated, and believe that it increases more ethnic tension and also express concerns whether such democratic process as peoples voting in the national referedum can be stopped in the middle of the process. Neatkariga, Chas, Vesti Segodnya, Telegraf

The movement “For Equal Rights” actively calls upon Latvian citizens to sign for the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law granting Latvian citizenship to all non-citizens. During the first stage of the collection of signatures at least 10,000 signatures need to be collected.

The movement For Equal Rights actively calls upon Latvian citizens to sign for the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law granting Latvian citizenship to all non-citizens. During the first stage of the collection of signatures at least 10,000 signatures need to be collected. Chas, Vesti Segodnya, Latvijas Avize, Diena

The Riga City Council has allocated LVL 60,000 (EUR 85,842) for Latvian language courses. About 600 residents of Riga will be able to take free-of-charge courses in 2012.

The Riga City Council has allocated LVL 60,000 (EUR 85,842) for Latvian language courses. About 600 residents of Riga will be able to take free-of-charge courses in 2012. Chas

Telegraf publishes two letters from its readers – one from an elderly ethnic Latvian woman on the reasons why she does not support Russian as a state language in Latvia and the second letter from a young ethnic Russian man on his perceptions of the failure of integration policy in Latvia. The author of the first letter asserts that ethnic Latvians do not love Russians and are afraid of them because they see in Russians a threat to the Latvian language and nation state. The woman does not understand why ethnic Russian residents feel humiliated speaking the Latvian language despite that they themselves have chosen Latvia as their home and call it as their motherland. The woman believes that ethnic Russian and ethnic Latvian residents do not have to love each other, but to live with each other as people and to try to understand each other. The author of the second letter believes that integration in Latvia has failed due to the lack of real commitment on the part of ethnic Latvians for integration to take place. The young man believes that all the activities aimed at the integration of society funded by numerous European foundations have not brought any benefits because people who implemented those in reality were not interested in the outcome. The young man believes that almost all issues in Latvia are viewed trough ethnic dimension.