• 61 candidates stand for 30 places in the Parliament of Unrepresented (non-citizens)

• Plans of the candidate to the post of the Mayor of Riga Baiba Broka to transfer all kindergartens in Riga into Latvian language got criticised

 A movement Congress of Non-citizens began its election campaign to the Parliament of Unrepresented. 61 candidates stand for 30 places in the Parliament of Unrepresented. 39 of candidates are non-citizens, the rest of candidates are Latvian citizens. As reported, the Congress of Non-citizens wants to establish the Parliament which will represent non-citizens on different levels. Latvijas Avize

 The vice-chairman of the Committee on Social Affairs of the Riga City Council Irina Vinnika (party “Honour to Serve Riga) criticizes plans of a candidate to the post of the Mayor of Riga Baiba Broka (nationalists’ union All for Latvia-FF/LNIM) to transfer all kindergartens in Riga into Latvian language only. According to Mrs Vinnika, the content of the pre-schools education is regulated by the Law on Education and the rules of the Cabinet of Ministers and municipal council has no rights to change those. Vesti Segodnya

•  MPs discussed the notion of political nation in Latvia

• Vesti Segodnya interviews academic Juris Rozenvalds about 9 May

Vesti Segodnya reports on a discussion about a united political nation held in the Saeima. The MPs, academics and journalists took part in the discussion. According to a Judge of the European Court of Justice Egils Levits, Latvian nation consists of three components: Latvian language as the main communication language, dominating Latvian culture, and common social memory. Mr Levits noted that ethnic belonging of members of such Latvian nation is irrelevant. Academic Leo Dribins did not agree that culture should unite everyone because citizens can belong to different cultures but still be patriots of the state. The MP Irina Cvetkova (Concord Centre), in her turn, argued that political nation is irrelevant not only of ethnic belonging but also of the native language. Advisor of the Prime Minister on integration issues Sarmite Elerte stated that the social memory is the main factor of split in the society.

Vesti Segodnya interviews academic Juris Rozenvalds about the attitude of different groups of the society towards 9 May (the end of the WWII or the Victory Day celebrated during Soviet era and nowadays in many former Soviet Union republics as well as by majority of Russian speaking residents in Latvia). Mr Rozenvalds believes that for many Russian speakers 9 May is not just a celebration but a desire to show the governing authorities that “we are here, we are many, and we must be taken into account.” Thus, the message of 9 May celebrations is similar to the referendum on the status of Russian language in Latvia as many of the people who voted for the proposal made it with an aim to draw attention of authorities and to be heard. However, Mr Rozenvals believes the governing authorities do not have enough professionalism to understand this message.

 

 

• Vesti Segodnya reports about a web site on patriotic education of school students
• Security Police warns about possible provocations on 9 May
• Vice Rector of the Riga Technical University Mareks Zeltins calls ethnic Latvian young people to learn Russian

 Vesti Segodnya reports about a web site www.audzinasana.lv on patriotic education of school students which was created following the idea of the head of the Saeima sub-committee on patriotic education Raivis Dzintars (nationalists’ union All for Latvia!-FF/LNIM). According to the newspaper, the majority of voters on the web site believe that in order to promote patriotic education the school students should be shown films about Soviet regime crimes and heroic deeds of Latvian Waffen SS legionnaires. It was also proposed that schools should invite former Latvian Waffen SS legionnaires to speak with students about patriotism. 

 According to the Security Police, provocations might take place on 9 May (the end of WWII or Victory Day) in Riga. The Security Police prepared an action plan in case of any provocations expected mostly from ethnic Latvian and Russian national radicals. In Riga, NGO 9maja.lv organises concerts and open festive events attended mostly by Russian speaking residents. The Victory Day was official celebration day during Soviet era in Latvia and many people in the former Soviet Union continue to celebrate the victory over the Nazi Germany. The 9 May is also controversial day for Latvia as it is put in opposition to 16 March – the unofficial commemoration day of Latvian Waffen SS legionnaires.Vesti Segodnya

 The Vice Rector on international co-operation of the Riga Technical University Mareks Zeltins believes that ethnic Latvian young people loose their competitiveness due to low proficiency in Russian language which is highly demanded in Latvian labour market. Mr Zeltins believes that Russian speakers have competitive advantage over the majority of ethnic Latvians, because the Russian speakers are proficient in three languages – Latvian, Russian and English. Therefore, Mr Zeltins calls ethnic Latvian young people to learn Russian language more actively.Vesti Segodnya

• Lawyers of Latvian Human Rights Committee won three cases against the State Language Centre

 Vesti Segodnya reports about the court cases won by lawyers of an NGO Latvian Human Rights Committee (LHRC) against the State Language Centre. According to a representative of the LHRC Vladimirs Buzajevs, it is very rare when persons fined for violation of the State Language Law appeal the decision and the majority prefers just to pay the fine. In recent time, three cases were won by the LHRC lawyers in the first instance court. In one of the cases, the court ruled that the fact that the head of a small enterprise is not proficient in the state language for the highest proficiency level does not harm the legal interests of the society; and therefore, imposition of the fine is not justified. From year 2000 to 2011, the State Language Centre initiated 7,534 administrative cases. Only in 30 cases the decision was abolished and in 49 cases the procedure was terminated.

 

 

• Candidate for the Riga City Council in the up-coming elections Aleksandrs Kirsteins proposes preferential tax breaks for enterprises which use Latvian names
• Saeima’s Legal Committee worries that some unknown forces hinder the adoption of the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law

Latvijas Avize interviews a member of the nationalists’ union All for Latvia!-FF/LNIM, candidate for the Riga City Council in the up-coming elections Aleksandrs Kirsteins. Mr Kirsteins considers ethnic minorities as foreigners or refugees who should be assimilated by switching minority-language kindergartens into Latvian language only. Mr Kirsteins is disturbed by the visual information in languages other than Latvian (such as "Sony centre" or "Ad Gustum") and proposes preferential tax breaks on real estate for enterprises which use Latvian names. He believes this would show who are the masters here and what are their values. Mr Kirsteins also wants to remove the Monument to the Liberators of Riga from the Nazi Invaders from the city alleging it is a symbol of occupation, but while the Monument is still there to place an exhibition by it telling about consequences of occupation of Latvia by the USSR.

Latvijas Avize reports that the MPs, members of the Saeima’s Legal Committee worry that some unknown forces hinder the adoption of the draft amendments to the Citizenship Law by spreading false information about it. According to representatives of the Committee it has received some critical remarks from different associations and institutions about the draft law from which it is clear that there is misunderstanding about the draft amendments. In particular, there is some misunderstanding about who will be allowed to have dual citizenship with Latvia, as well as about the procedure of registering children of non-citizens as Latvian citizens.