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.

• Solvita Aboltina: involvement of ethnic minorities in politics and state governance should be based on their support to Latvian values

In an interview with Latvijas Avize, head of the political party Unity, MP Solvita Aboltina stated that no cooperation with the party Concord is possible as long as it has cooperation agreement with Russia’s ruling party United Russia, as long as it considers that it was right to advice people to support referendum on granting Russian language status of a second state language in Latvia, and as long as the Concord is against Latvia’s support to Ukraine. Commenting a recent statement made by the Unity’s member, MP Hosams Abu Meri that sooner or later the Concord should be included in the ruling coalition, Mrs Aboltina said that Mr Abu Meri spoke about involvement of ethnic non-Latvians. She agreed that within the long-term and national security perspective, ethnic non-Latvians should be involved in politics and state governance. However, such involvement should be based on their support to the values on which Latvian state was established in 1918 and included in the Preamble to the Constitution of Latvia in 2014. According to Mrs Aboltina, it is not permissible just to select mathematically percentage of ethnic minorities for whom such values may be strange.