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.

• President Andris Berzins advises Latvian-speaking youth to learn Russian language

 

Vesti Segodnya writes about the interview with the President of the Republic of Latvia Andris Berzins published by the popular Sankt Petersburg site fontanka.ru. The President Berzins stated that he regularly advises Latvian youth to learn Russian language. According to the President Berzins, learning Russian at school is insufficient to achieve fluency, while very few Russian speakers are still live in the countryside and in the small towns. The President stated that the Russian-speaking youth is fluent in both languages, while the Latvian-speaking youth have rather poor knowledge of Russian. President Berzins believes Russian language is necessary for work within Latvia, as well as for Latvia’s international contacts. MP Vineta Porina (radical nationalist union “All for Latvia - For Fatherland and Freedom / Latvian National Independence Movement” (AFL-FFF/LNIM)), has commented the interview, stating that the President is sending a wrong signal to the population of the country.