• Step forward to State Integration guidelines

After 5 years of discussions the draft of the State Integration guidelines could be ready by 1

After 5 years of discussions the draft of the State Integration guidelines could be ready by 1st of July. Integration guidelines will include much narrower definition of integration, concentrating on integration of national minorities, integration of immigrants and various anti discrimination issues (e.g. Roma discrimination). Guidelines will not include regional and social integration. Latvijas Avize, Telegraf

• Chas reports about the first European Youth Russian Forum

Chas reports about the first European Youth Russian Forum held in the European Parliament in Brussels. One of the organisers of the Forum MEP from Latvia Tatjana Zdanoka believes that it is a first step towards establishment of the European Youth Russian Alliance which would prepare new generation of Russian politicians in Europe.

• Member of the Peoples Party Gundras Berzins: the Ombudsmans Office should be closed for the time of economic crisis

One of the establishers of the People’s Party Gundras Berzins in an interview with

One of the establishers of the Peoples Party Gundras Berzins in an interview with Latvijas Avize stated that the Ombudsmans Office should be closed for the time of economic crisis. The Ombudsman Romans Apsitis does not agree with Mr. Berzins arguing that meaning of protection of human rights during crisis grows because people more often face discrimination and illegal actions from state and municipal institutions. The MPs interviewed by the newspaper also criticized Berzins statement believing that the Ombudsmans Office should remain but its functions should be re-evaluated.

• Constitutional Court of Latvia initiated a case on differences in calculation of pensions of Latvian citizens and non-citizens
• Telegraf reports that funding planned for free-of-charge Latvian language courses for unemployed persons 2,5 times exceeds market costs
• Neatkariga prints an interview with founders of the new political union International Vladimirs Lindermans and Jevgenijs Osipovs

The Constitutional Court of Latvia initiated a case on differences in calculation of pensions of Latvian citizenship and non-citizens. Complaint to the Court was submitted by several non-citizens. They object the legal norm which stipulates that time worked by non-citizens during Soviet era in countries with which Latvia still does not have social agreement is not included in the total length of service.

The Constitutional Court of Latvia initiated a case on differences in calculation of pensions of Latvian citizenship and non-citizens. Complaint to the Court was submitted by several non-citizens. They object the legal norm which stipulates that time worked by non-citizens during Soviet era in countries with which Latvia still does not have social agreement is not included in the total length of service. Chas

Telegraf reports that funding planned to be granted for free-of-charge Latvian language courses for unemployed persons 2,5 times exceeds the costs of language training available in the open market. According to the newspaper, state-funded two month courses will cost about LVL 285, while, average cost of private language courses for the same time is LVL 112. The newspaper also notes that the funding will cover training of 7,000 persons, although more than 40,000 unemployed persons have poor state language skills and presently 10,823 persons are waiting for free-of-charge courses.

Neatkariga prints an interview with founders of the new political union International: national Bolshevik Vladimirs Lindermans and leader of the Osipovs Party Jevgenijs Osipovs. According to them, their aim is to replace ethnic conflict in Latvia by social conflict with an aim to change governing elite.

• Study Impact of Migration on Language Environment in Latvia

Vesti Segodnya reports about a study Impact of Migration on Language Environment in Latvia conducted by the State Language Agency. According to the study, 62,1% of labour immigrants communicate to local residents in Russian language, 71,7% in Latvian, and 38,2% in English. The majority of guest workers who use Russian language arrive from former USSR countries. Authors of the study believe that ethnic composition in Latvia still unfavourable for ethnic Latvians and Latvian language.