• Security Police: Latvia’s ethnic minorities do not follow Russia’s provocations
• Speaker of the Saeima Solvita Aboltina: Latvia is a home for representatives of all ethnicities who respect and acknowledge state’s fundamental principles, know and respect Latvian language

According to the Security Police (SP), attempts of organisations supporting Russia’s so-called policy on compatriots to use Latvia’s ethnic minorities as a tool for implementation of Russia’s geopolitical interests were unsuccessful in Latvia so far. The SP stresses that such activities became more intense and purposeful during past recent years. The SP considers that the aim of the activities is to split Latvian society and promote alienation of ethnic minorities from Latvian state and it creates threats to the national security. Latvijas Avize

The Speaker of the Saeima Solvita Aboltina in a solemn speech on 4th May (the Day of the restoration of independence of Latvian state) said that Latvia is a home for representatives of all ethnicities residing in it who respect and acknowledge state’s fundamental principles, know and respect Latvian language, acknowledge geopolitical belonging to Europe and Western cultural space. Mrs Aboltina noted that there are a lot to accomplish in the integration field and that the status of state nation of ethnic Latvians demands to take care and responsibility over all residents who historically live in Latvia and feel attached to it. Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya                                                                                                                                                                       

• NRA article criticises government policy on asylum seekers and refugees

 Article published in NRA questions the rationale of granting benefits to the refugees in amount which by far exceeds guaranteed minimum income and is greater than an average pension, while child benefit for refugees exceeds that for local residents seven times. 

• Most popular parties in April - Concord Centre and the Unity
• Vladimirs Buzajevs compares demographic trends among ethnic Latvians and ethnic non-Latvians

 According to a public opinion survey conducted by a company “Latvijas Fakti” the most popular parties in April were the Concord Centre and the Unity – supported by 16,8% and 16,1% correspondingly. Popularity of the Concord Centre has dropped by 4,6% comparing to March, but the number of the Unity’s supporters increased by 2,5%. The Union of Greens and Farmers is supported by 8,6% of respondents, the nationalists’ union All for Latvia/FF-LNIM by 6,3%. Latvijas Avize

Vesti Segodnya prints an article by co-chairman of the Latvian Human Rights Committee Vladimirs Buzajevs about comparative demography of ethnic Latvians and ethnic non-Latvians since 1991 till 2012. According to V.Buzajevs, while the total number of Latvian population has significantly decreased during these years, the loss of ethnic non-Latvians is much higher than the loss of ethnic Latvians. Thus, the number of ethnic Latvians decreased by 17%, while the number of ethnic minorities by 37%. V.Buzajevs does not agree with the official explanation that the rate of decline is so different due to different age composition of both groups and higher emigration rate of non-Latvians. V.Buzajevs asserts that these data provide the evidence of ethnic discrimination.

• State increases amount of benefit granted to refugees and persons with alternative status
• Riga City Council did not allow the Congress of Non-citizens to hold a concert “We want changes”
• Minister of Culture Dace Melnbarde: every person living in Latvia has a duty to know Latvian language

According to the regulations approved by the Cabinet of Ministers recently, refugees and persons with alternative status will receive a benefit in amount of EUR 256 per month and children with the same status will receive EUR 76 per month. State also grants funding for Latvian language courses in amount EUR 49.48 per month. The majority of MPs interviewed by Neatkariga do not support such amendments arguing that such benefit exceeds the average amount of pensions in Latvia while the amount of the benefit for refugee children exceeds the amount of benefit for Latvian children several times.

The Riga City Council did not allow the Congress of Non-citizens to hold a concert “We want changes” today in Riga. The decision in motivated by a conclusion of the Security Police according to which there are high risks of disorder as well as security threats and the organisers will not be able to ensure the security measures during the event. As reported, one of the activists of the Congress of Non-citizens Aleksandrs Gaponenko positioned the event as “Latvian Maidan.” Neatkariga reports that in response to this event, a group of Latvian young activists will hold an action reminding Russian speaking residents about opportunities for free-of-charge Latvian Language courses. According to the activists, the aim is to popularise Latvian language learning through benevolent and encouraging action. Latvijas Avize, Neatkariga

The Minister of Culture Dace Melnbarde in an interview with Vesti Segodnya states that every person living in Latvia has a duty to know Latvian language and it is an issue of loyalty to the state. The state in its turn guarantees every person the preservation of identity and usage of native language. (Vesti Segodnya 23.04)

• Latvijas Avize interviews the Riga City Council’s deputy Sarmite Elerte
• Latvian Human Rights Committee highly appreciate the recommendation of the UN HRC to Latvia to "review the State Language Law and its application"

Latvijas Avize interviews the Riga City Council’s deputy Sarmite Elerte (the Unity.) Mrs Elerte believes that ethnic non-Latvian residents do not want to live in Russia, but, most likely, there is relative large percentage of those who want to see Latvia more pro-Russian. However, Mrs Elerte believes that idea of a pro-Russian Latvia is incompatible with Latvia as a national, democratic state. According to Mrs Elerte, granting Russian language official status in municipalities, granting Latvian citizenship automatically would strengthen two-community state. Sarmite Elerte believes that the capacity and funding of the integration department of the Ministry of Culture should be increased, and in the future it would be useful to appoint special minister for integration issues. Mrs Elerte also believes that it is an exaggeration to say that all Russian residents in Latvia live in Russia’s information space as a lot of residents receive information from local internet news portals and Latvian Radio Channel 4 – which is the most popular Russian language radio station in Latvia.

Vesti Segodnya interviews representatives of the Latvian Human Rights Committee Vladimirs Buzajevs and Aleksandrs Kuzmins about the information they and the state provided to the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) regarding the enjoyment of rights envisioned by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The interviewees highly appreciate the work of the HRC and especially its recommendation that Latvia "should review the State Language Law and its application in order to ensure that any restriction on the rights of non-Latvian speakers is reasonable, proportionate and non-discriminatory, and take measures to ensure access by non-Latvian speakers to public institutions and facilitate their communication with public authorities."