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.

• Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs: about 300 people renounce Latvian citizenship every year
• Working group on promotion of naturalisation process elaborated some proposals
• Jewish organisations conducted seminars about Jewish people living in Latvia
• 53% of Latvian residents support transition of education in municipal kindergartens into Latvian language
• The last native speaker of Livonian language has died

 According to a representative of the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), about 300 people renounce Latvian citizenship every year. About 100 people are deprived of the citizenship according to court decisions every yearly because of acceptance of other country’s citizenship without notifying the OCMA about it.  Persons who renounce Latvian citizenship most often receive Russian citizenship. Among European countries, most frequently persons choose German, United Kingdom’s and Swedish citizenship. Citizenship of one of the European countries usually is chosen by young and middle aged people, but Russian citizenship is more popular among older people. Vesti Segodnya

 According to the head of the parliamentary working group on promotion of naturalisation process Valdis Liepins, the state cannot affect all the main reasons why non-citizens do not naturalise as those reasons are the belief that Latvian citizenship should be granted them automatically, expectation for easier procedure, and the right to travel to the CIS countries without visas. Mr Liepins says the aim of the working group is not to find the ways how to increase the number of new citizens but how to improve the quality of the naturalisation procedure in order to make the new citizens to integrate in the society easier. Among the proposals of the working group there are: restructuring of the web site about naturalisation making it more user friendly and issuing materials motivating for naturalisation; changing the content of the naturalisation tests making those more oriented on comprehension instead of the memory and adding questions about modern Latvian culture; creating special courses for naturalisation applicants which would help to improve language proficiency, learn about Latvian history and culture. Latvijas Avize

 Latvijas Avize reports about a series of seminars about Jews in Latvia, their culture and life. The seminars were organised in different Latvian cities by Jewish organisations with an aim to promote comprehension about mutual relations between Jews and Latvians.

 According to a public opinion survey conducted by agency TNS and LNT, 53% of Latvian residents support transition of education in municipal kindergartens into Latvian language. 43% of respondents do not support it. Telegraf

The last native speaker of Livonian language Grizelda Kristina has died in Canada, aged 103. There remain around 15 people who communicate in Livonian freely. Livonians are a Finno-Ugric indigenous people of Latvia. Vesti Segodnya