• Constitutional Court accepted a claim on unjustified language requirements
• Latvijas Avize interviews a candidate for the post of Riga Mayor Sarmite Elerte

The Constitutional Court has accepted a claim of an ex-deputy of Liepaja City Council Valerijs Kravcovs and deputy of Jekabpils City Council Natalja Cehova on unjustified language requirements.  Three years ago both deputies got fined for insufficient state language proficiency. In both cases the fines were imposed on the basis of a legal act on language requirements which was approved a month after elections in which they got elected to the local councils. The applicants believe the requirement to the deputies of local councils for the highest level of state language proficiency does not correspond with Latvian Constitution because it limits the rights to be elected for the majority of Russian speaking residents of Latvia. Vesti Segodnya

A candidate for the post of Riga Mayor Sarmite Elerte (the Unity) states that elections to the city council will not be ethnic – ethnic Latvians against ethnic Russians; instead the municipal elections will focus on the state principles– whether residents support Latvian state as it was established in 1918. According to Mrs Elerte, the most important task for her is to prevent strengthening of the Concord Centre in Riga because it is an obstacle for common development. Mrs Elerte criticizes the Mayor of Riga Nils Usakovs for his support of referendum on status of Russian language initiated by Vladimirs Lindermans considering that such action demonstrates his disloyal attitude towards Latvian state. Latvijas Avize

• Court upheld the decision of the State Language Centre about removal of a bilingual street sign on a private house
• Telegraf reports about higher education available in Russian language in Latvia

The Court of Liepaja (city in the western part of Latvia) upheld the decision of the State Language Centre about removal of a bilingual street sign on a private house and the fine imposed to house’s owner. As reported, one of the leaders of a party For Native Language Jevgenijs Osipovs placed a street sign in Latvian and Russian languages on the wall of his house as an action of support for placing street signs in minority languages. However, the State Language Centre ordered to remove the bilingual sign and fined the house owner with LVL 75 (EUR 107) as it violates the State Language Law and the rules of the Liepaja City Council. Neatkariga

Telegraf reports about higher education available in Russian language in Latvia. Many private higher education establishments and colleges provide programs in Russian language or bilingually which is not forbidden by legal acts.  In total, about 10% of Latvian students study in Russian language. Among those are local students as well as students from Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union.

• Court initiated a case against “SEB banka” on political discrimination
• Vesti Segodnya reports about a high demand for Russian language courses
• Latvijas Avize prints an interview with the director of the State Language Centre Maris Baltins

Following a claim of a political party For Native Language, the Riga District Court has initiated a case against a bank “SEB banka” for its refusal to open an account for the party. The bank did not explain why it refused to open the account to the party’s representatives. Leaders of the party see political discrimination in the decision of the bank, because other political parties hold accounts in this bank without any problems. Vesti Segodnya

Vesti Segodnya reports about a high demand for Russian language courses among ethnic Latvians. According to a representative of the State Employment Agency, unemployed persons can apply for free-of-charge courses but due to a large number of interested persons and limited funding it is necessary to wait about 7-9 months for courses. Representative of a language learning centre also confirms that there is a high demand for courses and not only for free-of-charge but also for paid courses. The main motivation for learning is high demand for Russian in labour market.

Latvijas Avize prints an interview with the director of the State Language Centre Maris Baltins. Mr Baltins believes when state institutions use Russian language in communication with residents those give a wrong signal to Russian speakers which says “yes you can learn the language, but in important cases we will provide you information in Russian anyway”. Such signal disturbs motivation to learn Latvian language believes Mr Baltins. At the same time, Mr Baltins sees the biggest problem in the fact that Russian speakers do not want to use Latvian language despite the fact that they are proficient in it.

• Riga City Council announced a grant competition for society integration projects
• Andrejs Berdnikovs: compromise regarding status of Russian language in Latvian has to be found

The Education, Culture and Sports Department of the Riga City Council has announced a grant competition on society integration for NGOs. The grant will be allocated to the projects in the field of civil participation and mutual co-operation development, promotion of social integration and tolerance and elimination of all kind of discrimination.  Latvijas Avize

Latvijas Avize prints an interview with a member of a party For Native Language, political scientist Andrejs Berdnikovs. Mr Berdnikovs believes that Russian language in Latvia should be granted a status other than “foreign language”. Mr Berdnikovs agrees that the majority of Latvian citizens stated their will at the referendum that they do not want Russian language to be the state language, but still a large number of citizens also stated they do not agree with the current status of Russian in Latvia. Thus, it is important to consider how to balance the two opinions. Regarding to the idea of Latgale region’s autonomy raised by the Party for Native Language and its leader Vladimirs Limndermans, Mr Berdnikovs said the aim of the idea is to draw closer attention to Latgale region which is the poorest region in the country.

• Sestdiena features an interview with nationals of Pakistan and Ukraine who made Latvia their home

Weekly magazine Sestdiena features an interview with nationals of Pakistan and Ukraine who made Latvia their home. Zesans is from Pakistan and studies medicine, while Julia is from Ukraine and studies entrepreneurship and management. They are satisfied with the quality of education and living conditions, but they are not sure if it would be possible to find appropriate job in Latvia after completing their studies. One of the problems is their lack of proficiency in Latvian language and the lack of opportunities to learn it. Both Julia and Zesans emphasize that they feel really safe in Latvia.

Julia and Zesans are involved in the international project AMITIE funded by the EU and conducted in Latvia by the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and the Department of Education, Sports and Culture of the Riga City Council. The AMITIE informative campaign “This is my story… or our?” informs the society about positive aspects of migration stressing the contribution of immigrants in economic, social and cultural development of the state. More about the AMITIE project on http://www.facebook.com/AMITIEproject?ref=hl and http://cilvektiesibas.org.lv/lv/media-materials/notiks-informativas-kampanas-sis-ir-mans-stasts-va-223/ (in Latvian)