• Latvijas Avize reports on a discussion held in Riga about hate speech on the Internet

Latvijas Avize reports on a discussion held in Riga about hate speech on the Internet, organised by NGO Dialogi.lv. Participants of the discussion concluded that hateful comments on the Internet have become less frequent, apparently due to negative reaction in the society to insulting comments, as well as because legislation envisages severe punishment for incitement to ethnic or racial hatred (up to 10 year of imprisonment). The participants also agreed that there are flaws in legislation, in particular, regarding anonymous commentators, as well as difficulty to meet the requirement to prove that an author of the comment intended to incite hatred.

• Leader of the Latvian Youth Party Janis Kuzins: Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration should be closed because it failed in its main task

In an interview with

In an interview with Vesti Segodnya, leader of the Latvian Youth Party Janis Kuzins has stated that Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration should be closed because it failed in its main task in integration of society and it actually has no authority to accomplish anything. Janis Kuzins considers that at the moment, any attempts to integrate society are hindered by the Ministry of Justice headed by nationalist Gaidis Berzins.

• Russias State Dumas deputies from the Committee of CIS Affairs and Relations asks to cancel visa requirements for Latvian and Estonian non-citizens
• State language inspectors punished two teachers from Russian language schools for insufficient Latvian language proficiency
• Lawyer Andris Grutups: Latvia is the state of ethnic Latvians and integration policy should be replaced with Latvianisation policy

Russia’s State Duma’s deputies from the Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots have asked the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs to come with an initiative to the President of Russia proposing to cancel visa requirements for Latvian and Estonian non-citizens. The deputies believe that visa requirements could be cancelled at least for summer time.

Russias State Dumas deputies from the Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots have asked the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs to come with an initiative to the President of Russia proposing to cancel visa requirements for Latvian and Estonian non-citizens. The deputies believe that visa requirements could be cancelled at least for summer time. Vesti Segodnya

State language inspectors have punished a Mathematics teacher and an English language teacher from Russian language schools for insufficient Latvian language proficiency. According to rules of the Cabinet of Ministers all teachers should have highest state language proficiency category.

State language inspectors have punished a Mathematics teacher and an English language teacher from Russian language schools for insufficient Latvian language proficiency. According to rules of the Cabinet of Ministers all teachers should have highest state language proficiency category.

In an interview to

In an interview to Latvijas Avize, well-known Latvian lawyer Andris Grutups has stated that Latvia is the state of ethnic Latvians and integration policy should be replaced with Latvianisation policy. According to Mr. Grutups, the majority of ethnic Russians are against Latvia, many of whom have united into a fifth column. In his view, celebrating in Paris, London or Moscow the Victory in Europe Day is understandable, however, those celebrating this day in Riga are in fact celebrating the day of occupation of Latvia. He alleges that Russian-language newspapers in Latvia are calling for a fight against an illegal entity called Latvia. Andris Grutups also believes that individuals, whose parents or grandparents worked in KGB or came to Latvia with weapons, should not have a place in the state administration. In the meantime, well qualified ethnic Russians could occupy leading positions only if they are 10% more patriotic than ethnic Latvians themselves.

• Head coach of Latvian national hockey team Olegs Znaroks will not go to an interview with state language inspectors
• Vesti Segodnya reports that Norway refuses to issue work permits to Latvian non-citizens equally with Latvian citizens
• Vesti Segodnya prints an article on how people can legally resist to state language inspections
• Telegraf prints opinions of several experts on the issues of racism and discrimination in Latvia
• Saeimas Legal Committee has approved in the first reading a draft law easing procedure on change of ethnicity, name and surname

The head coach of Latvian national hockey team Olegs Znaroks has stated that he will not go to an interview with state language inspectors. As reported, the State Language Centre has invited Olegs Znaroks to come to an interview in order to prove that his Latvian language skills correspond to required proficiency for coach’s post. However, Olegs Znaroks has stated that he is foreign citizen and is not obligated to prove language proficiency.

The head coach of Latvian national hockey team Olegs Znaroks has stated that he will not go to an interview with state language inspectors. As reported, the State Language Centre has invited Olegs Znaroks to come to an interview in order to prove that his Latvian language skills correspond to required proficiency for coachs post. However, Olegs Znaroks has stated that he is foreign citizen and is not obligated to prove language proficiency. Vesti Segodnya, Telegraf, Diena

Vesti Segodnya reports that Norway refuses to issue work permits to Latvian non-citizens equally with Latvian citizens. According to Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, only citizens of the Common European Economic Space (CEES) can freely apply for work permits in Norway, while, non-citizens should apply for work permits according to the rules applied to non-CEES countries.

Vesti Segodnya prints an article on how people can legally resist to state language inspections. Columnist proposes persons who disagree with imposed penalties or activities of language inspectors to turn for help to the MPs who should be able to explain how penalties or protocols could be appealed. Alternatively, the MPs might request the State Language Centre to provide official explanation of too repressive activities of inspectors. Columnist also proposes to issue and spread all over Latvia special booklets with legal information explaining how to respond in case of sudden language inspection.

Telegraf prints opinions of several experts on the issues of racism and discrimination in Latvia. Head of the Afro-Latvian Association Christopher Ejugbo considers that problem of racism is very topical in Latvia. According to Mr. Ejugbo, assaults on non-white skinned people become more frequent, especially, recently, assaults were aimed at children. Analyst of the Centre for Public Policy Providus Marija Golubeva considers that the problem of indirect or hidden discrimination is especially urgent, while racism becomes more topical due to increasing number of arrivals from other countries and cultures. Academician Leo Dribins states that although Latvia is not anti-Semitic country, there are some groups of people, prints and internet portals publishing anti-Semitic materials.

Yesterday, the Saeima’s Legal Committee has approved in the first reading a draft law easing procedure on change of ethnicity, name and surname. According to the draft law, if a person wants to change ethnicity to “ethnic Latvian” s/he will not have to prove Latvian language proficiency anymore as it is required by the law currently in force.

Yesterday, the Saeimas Legal Committee has approved in the first reading a draft law easing procedure on change of ethnicity, name and surname. According to the draft law, if a person wants to change ethnicity to ethnic Latvian s/he will not have to prove Latvian language proficiency anymore as it is required by the law currently in force. Vesti Segodnya

• Latvijas Avize prints an interview with the director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights Ilze Brands-Kehre about integration and role of state language in this process
• ECRI Round table discussion in Riga on combating racism and minority integration
• Political Scientist Ivars Ijabs: ethno-political issues prevail over social-economical issues in speeches of MPs in the Saeima

Latvijas Avize prints an interview with the director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights Ilze Brands-Kehre about integration and role of state language in this process. Ilze Brands-Kehre believes that contemporary integration program in Latvia should promote diversity approach and include state language aspect only as one of many integration aspects. Mrs. Brands-Kehre considers that it is a matter of methods which are used to promote usage of state language. Ilze Brands-Kehre believes that state language inspections as a method is ineffective because it creates psychological conflicts and confrontation for use of language. While, more effective method would be informative campaigns calling to use state language and promoting advantages of it. Mrs. Brands Kehre also believes that legal requirements for state language proficiency for certain professions and posts should be proportional to necessary in reality level of language proficiency.

Yesterday, the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration, Ombudsman and other officials as well as representatives of NGOs have taken part in the round table discussion on combating racism and minority integration held by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) in Riga. The ECRI presented its report on racism and intolerance in Latvia, which, while noting the progress in combating racism in Latvia, pointed out at an increase of frequency of racial incidents,  as well as at the problems in integration of ethnic minorities.

Yesterday, the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration, Ombudsman and other officials as well as representatives of NGOs have taken part in the round table discussion on combating racism and minority integration held by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) in Riga. The ECRI presented its report on racism and intolerance in Latvia, which, while noting the progress in combating racism in Latvia, pointed out at an increase of frequency of racial incidents, as well as at the problems in integration of ethnic minorities. Chas, Telegraf

Political scientist Ivars Ijabs and mass media expert Sergejs Kruks issued a book “Saeima, Words and Democracy” which summarizes results of a study analyzing records of MPs’ speeches in the Saeima’s sessions in 2007. According to the study, the most often pronounced word was “occupation” – 630 times and phrase “state language” - 547 times, while phrase “civil society” was mentioned only 16 times. Ivars Ijabs in an interview with

Political scientist Ivars Ijabs and mass media expert Sergejs Kruks issued a book Saeima, Words and Democracy which summarizes results of a study analyzing records of MPs speeches in the Saeimas sessions in 2007. According to the study, the most often pronounced word was occupation – 630 times and phrase state language - 547 times, while phrase civil society was mentioned only 16 times. Ivars Ijabs in an interview with Chas has stated that ethno-political issues surely prevail over social-economical issues in speeches of MPs. Mr. Ijabs believes that ethno-political issues are used as a veil to curtain urgent economical issues. Chas