• Chas features an interview with a candidate for the post of the President Valdis Zatlers

Chas features an interview with a candidate for the post of the President, head of the Hospital of Traumatology and Orthopeadics, Valdis Zatlers. According to Mr. Zatlers, there is a lack of solidarity in Latvian society. Valdis Zatlers also believed that non citizens would lose motivation to become naturalised if they are granted voting rights in municipal elections.

• Latvijas Avize features an interview with a candidate for the post of the President of Latvia from the political party New Era Sandra Kalniete
• 18 persons have attended the Information Day of the Naturalisation Board yesterday

Latvijas Avize features an interview with a candidate for the post of the President of Latvia from the political party New Era Sandra Kalniete. Ms. Kalniete believes that integration of Russian speakers in Latvia should not be based solely on the Latvian language, but also on the Latvian culture and history. According to Sandra Kalniete, integration can be successful only if the Latvian language is the sole language of instruction in state-funded general education schools.

Yesterday, 18 persons have attended the Methodology and Examination Centre of the Naturalisation Board in the framework of the Informative Day concerning the content and procedure of naturalisation examinations.

Yesterday, 18 persons have attended the Methodology and Examination Centre of the Naturalisation Board in the framework of the Informative Day concerning the content and procedure of naturalisation examinations.

• Prosecutor asks to punish national radicals Aivars Garda, Ilze Liepa and Liga Muzinkante with pecuniary penalty for incitement to ethnic hatred

Yesterday, the Riga Regional Court continued hearing of the criminal case of the leader of the extreme right-wing organisation Latvian National Front Aivars Garda and the organisation’s members Liga Muzikante and Ilze Liepa publishing also the national radical newspaper

Yesterday, the Riga Regional Court continued hearing of the criminal case of the leader of the extreme right-wing organisation Latvian National Front Aivars Garda and the organisations members Liga Muzikante and Ilze Liepa publishing also the national radical newspaper DDD. As reported, the persons have been charged for incitement to ethnic hatred in several DDDs articles published in 2004 and 2005. The Prosecutor has asked to punish Aivars Garda and Ilze Liepa with pecuniary penalty in amount of LVL 4,800 (EUR 6,830) and Liga Muzinkante, editor of the newspaper, - in amount of LVL 6,000 (EUR 8,537). Chas, Vesti Segodnya

• Candidate for the post of the President of Latvia Karina Petersone: granting non-citizens voting rights would consolidate the society
• Supreme Court has ordered repeated linguistic expertise in a case of ex-deputy of the Riga City Council Aleksandrs Gilmans

In an interview with

In an interview with Telegraf, a candidate for the post of the President of Latvia Karina Petersone from the political party Latvias Way stated that Latvian society will never consist only of citizens. Karina Petersone argued that social researches show that about 60% of non-citizens do not need citizenship or do not want to have it. Therefore, Ms. Petersone believed that granting non-citizens voting rights would consolidate the society and draw its members to common aims.

Latvijas Avize reports that the Supreme Court has ordered repeated linguistic expertise in a case of ex-deputy of the Riga City Council Aleksandrs Gilmans. As reported, Aleksandrs Gilmans is charged for anti-governmental statements made on the internet forum of the Headquarters for the Defence of Russian-language Schools homepage. The Riga Regional Court resting on the linguistic expertise by the State Language Agency has justified Aleksandrs Gilmans. However, the Prosecutors Office has appealed the ruling arguing that there is a lack of concreteness and argumentation in the expertise. Repeated linguistic expertise is assigned to the Association of Independent Experts.

• 123, 199 persons have been granted Latvian citizenship through naturalisation since in 1995
• The Minister of Justice Gaidis Berzins has prepared the reply to the Ombudsman's Offices appeal on the of use minority languages in public information
• Concord Centre asked the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga not to proclaim the amendments to the Criminal Law adopted on 17 May
• Candidate for the Presidents of Latvia post Karina Petersone: consolidation of society is one of the Presidents main tasks
• MP Dzintars Rasnacs: legalization of non-citizens status was a mistake

Chas reports that 123, 199 persons have been granted Latvian citizenship through naturalisation since 1995.

The Minister of Justice Gaidis Berzins has prepared the reply to the Ombudsman’s Office’s, former Latvian National Human Rights Office’s (LNHRO) appeal made in 2006. As reported, the LNHRO asked the Cabinet of Ministers to permit the state and municipal institutions to provide written public information in minority languages together with the state language. The Cabinet of Ministers issued a protocol decision stipulating that the LNHRO and the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration (IUMSILS) had to place information in minority languages in their premises that, following a request, these institutions submit information also in minority languages. According to Gaidis Berzins, the Cabinet of Ministers’ rules concerning language use comply with international standards. The Minister believed that no amendments to the existing legislation should be made since the liberalization of the provisions concerning the use of foreign languages in public information would allegedly threaten the state language’s environment.

The Minister of Justice Gaidis Berzins has prepared the reply to the Ombudsmans Offices, former Latvian National Human Rights Offices (LNHRO) appeal made in 2006. As reported, the LNHRO asked the Cabinet of Ministers to permit the state and municipal institutions to provide written public information in minority languages together with the state language. The Cabinet of Ministers issued a protocol decision stipulating that the LNHRO and the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration (IUMSILS) had to place information in minority languages in their premises that, following a request, these institutions submit information also in minority languages. According to Gaidis Berzins, the Cabinet of Ministers rules concerning language use comply with international standards. The Minister believed that no amendments to the existing legislation should be made since the liberalization of the provisions concerning the use of foreign languages in public information would allegedly threaten the state languages environment. Vesti Segodnya

The Saeima’s faction “The Concord Centre” has asked the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga not to proclaim the amendments to the Criminal Law adopted by the Saeima on 17 May. According to the head of the faction Boriss Cilevics, the adopted amendments to the Criminal Law stipulating punishments for the differential treatment on the grounds of religion do not address racial and ethnic origin as the grounds of discrimination covered by the Race Directive. Mr.Cilevics has also noted that the word “discrimination” has been deleted from the law.

The Saeimas faction The Concord Centre has asked the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga not to proclaim the amendments to the Criminal Law adopted by the Saeima on 17 May. According to the head of the faction Boriss Cilevics, the adopted amendments to the Criminal Law stipulating punishments for the differential treatment on the grounds of religion do not address racial and ethnic origin as the grounds of discrimination covered by the Race Directive. Mr.Cilevics has also noted that the word discrimination has been deleted from the law. Chas (19.05.)

Latvijas Avize features an interview with a candidate for the post of the President of Latvia Karina Petersone from the political party Latvias Way. Ms. Petersone has stated that consolidation of the society is one of the Presidents main tasks. According to Karina Petersone, the sense of belonging to the state, patriotism and pride of the states achievements are the core grounds of social consolidation.

Weekly

Weekly Nedela features an interview with the Saeimas Secretary, MP from the right-wing political faction For Fatherland and Freedom/LNIM Dzintars Rasnacs. According to Mr. Rasnacs, the legalisation of non-citizens status was a mistake. Dzintars Rasnacs believes that residents who have arrived to Latvia during soviet times should be considered as foreigners. Therefore, Mr.Rasnacs says, these people have to choose whether to integrate into the society or to return to their motherland. According to Mr. Rasnacs, various political parties would manipulate non-citizens if they are granted voting rights in municipal elections.