• Newspapers continue to report on possible redistribution of refugees to Latvia

 Newspapers continue to report on possible redistribution of refugees to Latvia. Neatkariga and Vesti Segodnya report that the Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma has signed a decree to establish a “high level inter-institutional working group for the resolution of the refugee issue” which would resolve legal and practical issues of admission, accommodation and integration of refugees. MP Rihards Kols (National Union), dismissed earlier this month from the post of the Prime Ministers’ Parliamentary Secretary, alleges the government violated official national position on the issue, and believes that before announcing “abstract number” (250 persons) the government did not provide answers to essential questions, such as assessment of how many refugees Latvia is capable to accommodate in reality, preparedness of Latvian migration officials, social, education and healthcare specialists, security risk assessment (Latvijas Avize 21.07.2015). Vesti Segodnya interviews political scientist Kristians Rozenvalds, who believes that part of the reason why the society is opposed to the redistribution of refugees is that many Latvians still perceive the leadership as “them”, as an external force which always works against “us”, hurts “us” and thus “we” are always on a defensive. He also believes Latvia should follow the example of Denmark and be proactive. 

• Latvijas Avize interviews the Minister of Interior Rihards Kozlovskis about the government’s decision to accommodate in Latvia 250 asylum seekers and refugees
• Neatkariga interviews MEPs from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania about whether the Baltic countries should agree to the accommodation of refugees from African countries

Latvijas Avize interviews the Minister of Interior Rihards Kozlovskis about the government’s decision to accommodate in Latvia 250 asylum seekers and refugees within the next two years. The Minister stresses that this is a one-off measure and Latvia will not agree for accommodation of a larger number of asylum seekers. Regarding the selection of persons who will be accommodated in Latvia, the Minister says that Latvian representatives will travel to the places where refugees and asylums seekers are currently located in order to speak to the candidates on whether they want to come to Latvia. The so-called “candidates” will be selected according to certain criteria defined by Latvian ministries. Representatives of different ministries (including the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and others) could evaluate the ability of the potential candidates to integrate as well as assess the value of their skills or education for Latvian economy.  The Minister says that, for instance, Latvia could define that it will accommodate only full families, in order to avoid that in future single refugees or asylum seekers will bring their family members to Latvia. According to the Minister, the earliest time when the first group of asylums seekers could arrive to Latvia is November.

Neatkariga interviews MEPs from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania about whether the Baltic countries should agree to the accommodation of refugees from African countries. The MEP from Estonia Indrek Tarand is convinced that it is necessary to help other European countries in accommodation of asylum seekers showing solidarity, just as Estonia would also expect solidarity if large number of refugees from neighbour countries come to its territory. He also criticized the current public debates in Estonia on refugee issue which are rude and racist. The MEP from Latvia Inese Vaidere, in her turn, does not support accommodation of asylum seekers arguing that Latvia is already inhabited by a large number of immigrants (arrived during the USSR era). She also believes that if Latvia accepts 250 persons the number most likely will grow 10 or 15 times as refugees will bring their families in a while. Mrs Vaidere also believes that it is rather important to strengthen the border control so that African refugees could not enter the EU countries. The Lithuanian MEP Petras Austrevicius supports the solidarity principle with other European countries. He believes that migrants from the conflict zones should be accommodated due to humanitarian reasons, but the economic migrants should be sent back. At the same time, due to a shortage of labour force, a certain part of economic migrants could be allowed.

• Rihards Kols (National Union) dismissed from the post of the Prime Ministers’ Parliamentary Secretary due to discord regarding the accommodation of refugees in Latvia

The Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma dismissed a member of the National Union (NU) Rihards Kols from the post of the Parliamentary Secretary due to discord regarding the issue of accommodation of refugees in Latvia. Rihards Kols as well as the others the NU members joined the initiative of the oppositional parties to call the extraordinary Parliamentary session with an aim to evaluate the government’s decision on accommodation of refugees. The other coalition parties – the Unity and the Union of Greens and Farmers evaluated such action by the NU members as breach of the coalition’s agreement which forbid the coalition members to join the initiatives of the oppositional parties on call for extraordinary Parliamentary sessions. Before taking final decision on dismissal of Rohards Kols, the Prime Minister proposed him to elaborate the refugee integration programme as the NU has doubts whether refugees will be able to integrate in Latvia. However, Mr Kols refused the proposal. Latvijas Avize

• Vesti Segodnya asked its readers on whether there should be a referendum regarding the accommodation of refugees allotted by the EU

Vesti Segodnya asked its readers on whether the government has the right to take decision on accommodation of refugees allotted by the EU without asking residents’ opinion in a referendum. According to the newspaper, it has received more than a thousand of feedbacks. The majority of respondents are confident that the referendum is necessary and have negative attitude towards accommodation of refugees from African countries in Latvia. But there were also few respondents who believe that it is a right decision to provide help to the refugees and accommodate them. As reported, a while ago, the Ombudsman Juris Jansons proposed to ask the opinion of Latvian citizens through a national referendum about whether to accept the refugees allotted by the EU. 

 

• Raimonds Vejonis became the President of Latvia 

On 8 July 2015 at an extraordinary Saeima’s session, Raimonds Vejonis gave the oath of office, becoming the President of Latvia. In his inaugural speech Mr. Vejonis stated that success of Latvia depends on the success of every person. He believes this is the duty of the President to balance various interests in favour of the common development of the country. There is a talk about divided society and this issue is popular among ill-wishers abroad. However, there are many issues which unite all Latvia’s residents and it would be unwise to exaggerate the differences. Latvia is proud of representatives of ethnic minorities who bring its name to international prominence. People in Latvia unite regardless of ethnicity in cases such as Zolitude tragedy. Mr. Vejonis believes it is necessary to strengthen the foundations of Latvia and common understanding of history. Mr.Vejonis’ main aim is strengthening the security and welfare of Latvia and its people. As for practical matters, the main work is to strengthen the security of Latvia, because the aggression in Ukraine has demonstrated that the military and technological security still plays very important role. Mr. Vejonis emphasised that the notion of security embraces the security of every Latvia’s resident and their families, including economic security and social responsibility, stability, transparency and predictability of decisions which would ensure the environment for entrepreneurs. He emphasised that the security and welfare of Latvia rests with further and deeper cooperation with the EU and NATO. Raimonds Vejonis has also stated that he is proud for his country and for the people of Latvia. Diena, Latvijas Avize, Neatkariga, Vesti Segodnya