Integration and Minority Information Service
of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies

• Latvia becomes a member of NATO
• Speech of the former Foreign Affairs Minister of Latvia Sandra Kalniete provokes indignant reaction of the Vice President of the German Jewish community Solomon Korn
• Consultations with minority schools on education reform
• Interview with the head of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee Artis Pabriks
• Interview with the USA ambassador to Latvia Brian E. Carlson
• Conference Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector
• Article by the leader of national-extremists organization Visu Latvijai! Raivis Dzintars on national minorities in Latvia

Today Latvia officially becomes a member state of the NATO.

Today Latvia officially becomes a member state of the NATO. Diena, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya, Chas

Speech of the former Foreign Affairs Minister of Latvia Sandra Kalniete at the opening of the Leipzig’s Book Fair has provoked indignation of the Vice President of the German Jewish community Solomon Korn. Leader of the German Jewish community demonstratively left the hall responding to the statement of Sandra Kalniete that both totalitarian regimes – Nazism and communism – have been equally criminal. Sandra Kalniete regards the reaction of Solomon Korn as exaggerated, stating that it reflects insufficient comprehension of the Eastern European history.

Speech of the former Foreign Affairs Minister of Latvia Sandra Kalniete at the opening of the Leipzigs Book Fair has provoked indignation of the Vice President of the German Jewish community Solomon Korn. Leader of the German Jewish community demonstratively left the hall responding to the statement of Sandra Kalniete that both totalitarian regimes – Nazism and communism – have been equally criminal. Sandra Kalniete regards the reaction of Solomon Korn as exaggerated, stating that it reflects insufficient comprehension of the Eastern European history. Diena, Vesti Segodnya, Telegraf

Minister of Education and Science Juris Radzevics in collaboration with the State Language inspection has started consultations with minority schools on education reform. He had already visited Aizkraukle secondary school.

Minister of Education and Science Juris Radzevics in collaboration with the State Language inspection has started consultations with minority schools on education reform. He had already visited Aizkraukle secondary school. Neatkariga Rita Avize, Latvijas Avize, Telegraf

Latvijas Avize features an interview with the head of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee Artis Pabriks about relationship between Latvia and Russia and the education reform. Artis Pabriks blames former Minister of Education and Science Karlis Sadurskis for complications with the education reforms implementation, pointing to the lack of dialogue between the minister and national minorities. At the same time, the head of the committee recognizes that some statements of the Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language Schools, like, for example, denial of the Latvias occupation therefore questioning the legitimacy of the state, and the fact that the assistant of the Russias State Council deputy speaker Dmitry Rogozin is an activist of the Headquarters, restrict possibilities of the dialogue between this organization and the state.

Latvijas Avize features an interview with the ambassador of USA to Latvia Brian E. Carlson about Latvias accession to the NATO, and about threats of the vice-speaker of the Russia State Council Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the possible terrorist attacks in Latvia. Ambassador believes that it is particularly irresponsible to come out with such statements when the EU discusses how to combat terrorism, and persons who do so put themselves in the same row with Osama bin Laden, ETA, AlQaeda and other extremists.

Chas writes about the conference Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector, featuring the statements of foreign experts about society integration and education reform in Latvia. Researcher of the European Centre for Minority Issues in Belgrade Florian Bieber points to the role of language in maintenance of the national identity, stating that looking at the situation in Latvia without prejudice implies that sooner or later it will be necessary to speak about the status of official language for Russian.

Latvijas Avize features an article of the leader of national-extremists organization Visu Latvijai! Raivis Dzintars on national minorities in Latvia. The author believes that it is significant for Latvia to emphasize that those who immigrated to the country during the period of occupation and their descendants cannot be considered as ethnic minorities of Latvia. According to Raivis Dzintars, there are political forces, for example Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language schools, which, concealing themselves behind the notion of minority, are realizing activities hostile to the state.

Integration and Minority Information Service
of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies

• New ratings of political parties
• President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga on Vladimir Zhirinovskys threats of terrorist attacks in Latvia
• Establishment of Minorities Information and Culture Centre
• Chairman of the State Education inspection Zigfrids Grinpauks: several minority schools deliberately submitted low self-appraisals
• Minister of Education and Science Juris Radzevics discusses the education reform with teachers and parents of the Aizkraukle minority school
• About preparedness of Ventspils minority schools to the education reform
• Interview with the leader of the recently founded Afro-Latvian Association Christopher Ejugbo

The latest

The latest Latvijas Fakti opinion poll indicates that despite the rating decrease from 28,7% in February to 22,5% in March, New Era is still the most popular party . The rating of Union of Farmers and Greens has almost doubled from 4,2% to 8,2%. Other parties ratings are: Peoples Party - 10,2%, For Human Rights in the United Latvia - 6,8%, For Fatherland and Freedom/LNIM - 5,2%, Peoples Harmony Party - 4,0%, and Latvias First Party - 3,1%. Diena, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga hopes that threats of the vice-speaker of the Russia State Council Vladimir Zhirinovsky about possible terrorist attacks in Latvia will be correspondingly evaluated by the member states of the European Union. President also believes that possibility of the official response should be carefully evaluated in order not to increase the significance of these statements. Baltic Assembly is also preparing to voice a protest about the expressions of Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga hopes that threats of the vice-speaker of the Russia State Council Vladimir Zhirinovsky about possible terrorist attacks in Latvia will be correspondingly evaluated by the member states of the European Union. President also believes that possibility of the official response should be carefully evaluated in order not to increase the significance of these statements. Baltic Assembly is also preparing to voice a protest about the expressions of Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Diena, Latvijas Avize, Chas, Vesti Segodnya

Following the initiative of the Special Tasks Minister’s for Society integration Secretariat, Minorities Information and Culture Center was opened yesterday in Riga. The center will provide informative and consultative aid for minority organizations, as well as premises for organization of seminars and cultural activities. The prior task of the centre is organizing trainings for minority non-governmental organizations on attracting funding and implementing projects.

Following the initiative of the Special Tasks Ministers for Society integration Secretariat, Minorities Information and Culture Center was opened yesterday in Riga. The center will provide informative and consultative aid for minority organizations, as well as premises for organization of seminars and cultural activities. The prior task of the centre is organizing trainings for minority non-governmental organizations on attracting funding and implementing projects. Diena, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Vesti Segodnya

The chairman of the State Education inspection Zigfrids Grinpauks concedes that several minority schools have deliberately submitted a low self-appraisal to the inspection, claiming inability to provide  the necessary amount of lessons in the Latvian language. Zigfrids Grinpauks motivates his statement by the contradictions between the latest self-appraisals of these schools and the self-appraisals, submitted by the same schools before. Russian-language newspaperspublish an appeal of the Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language Schools to minority schools’ administrations, calling them not to complete the questionnaires about the schools’ preparedness to the education reform.

The chairman of the State Education inspection Zigfrids Grinpauks concedes that several minority schools have deliberately submitted a low self-appraisal to the inspection, claiming inability to provide the necessary amount of lessons in the Latvian language. Zigfrids Grinpauks motivates his statement by the contradictions between the latest self-appraisals of these schools and the self-appraisals, submitted by the same schools before. Russian-language newspaperspublish an appeal of the Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language Schools to minority schools administrations, calling them not to complete the questionnaires about the schools preparedness to the education reform. Latvijas Avize, Chas, Vesti Segodnya

Diena writes about the visit of the Minister of Education and Science Juris Radzevics to the Aizkraukles minority school to discuss the education reform with the teachers and parents. Teachers and parents of minority students have expressed their concern about the possible deterioration of the education quality for minority students, pointing to the teachers insufficient knowledge of the Latvian language.

Latvijas Avize features an article about the meeting of the Ventspils Mayor Aivars Lembergs and directors of the Ventspils minority schools, in order to discuss the preparedness of the towns schools to the education reform. The chairman of the Education department Aldis Slavinskis states that the teachers proficiency is sufficient for teaching 60% of subjects in Latvian, but stresses that successful implementation of the reform depends on the overall atmosphere and motivation.

Vesti Segodnya features an interview with the leader of the recently founded Afro-Latvian Association Christopher Ejugbo about the goals of the organization.

Integration and Minority Information Service
of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies

• Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly rejects the appeal of the Saeima Speaker Ingrida Udre to postpone the visit of two rapporteurs to Latvia
• President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga announced amendments to the law On meetings, walks and pickets
• President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga comments on Vladimir Zhirinovskys threats of terrorist attacks in Latvia
• Report Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector in Latvia
• Interview with the Minister of Education and Science Juris Radzevics
• Comments on the appeal of the union For Human Rights in the United Latvia to the European Parliament to grant Russian status of the EU official language
• Upcoming regulations for foreigners applying for the permanent residence in Latvia
• FHRUL MP Vladimirs Buzajevs about problems related to the registration of children of Latvain non-citizens and foreigners
• Commentary on the European Week against Racism
• Interview with the MP of RussiaState Council Konstantin Zatulin
• Celebration of the Muslim New Year, organized by the Uzbek cultural society Nur

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (CEPA) has rejected the appeal of the Saeima Speaker Ingrida Udre to postpone the visit to Latvia of two rapporteurs, who will evaluate the issues of education reform and observation of minority rights. President of the CEPA Peter Schieder in his letter to Ingrida Udre has stated that CEPA regards the visit of two rapporteurs to Latvia on 29 and 30 March as necessary.

Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (CEPA) has rejected the appeal of the Saeima Speaker Ingrida Udre to postpone the visit to Latvia of two rapporteurs, who will evaluate the issues of education reform and observation of minority rights. President of the CEPA Peter Schieder in his letter to Ingrida Udre has stated that CEPA regards the visit of two rapporteurs to Latvia on 29 and 30 March as necessary. Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya, Telegraf

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has announced amendments to the law “On meetings, walks and pickets”, stipulating that outdoor meetings of Saeima and municipality deputies and deputy candidates with their electorate, as well as organized and publicly announced pickets and walks, must be coordinated with the municipality.

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has announced amendments to the law On meetings, walks and pickets, stipulating that outdoor meetings of Saeima and municipality deputies and deputy candidates with their electorate, as well as organized and publicly announced pickets and walks, must be coordinated with the municipality. Chas

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has evaluated expressions of the vice-speaker of the Russia State Council Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who has declared his intentions to exterminate Latvian people, as unacceptable for the elected official. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, protesting against Latvia’s accession to the NATO and implementation of the education reform, has promised to organize terrorist attacks in Latvia, if the state ‘will touch Russians or Russian schools’. Commentator of the

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has evaluated expressions of the vice-speaker of the Russia State Council Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who has declared his intentions to exterminate Latvian people, as unacceptable for the elected official. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, protesting against Latvias accession to the NATO and implementation of the education reform, has promised to organize terrorist attacks in Latvia, if the state ‘will touch Russians or Russian schools. Commentator of the Latvijas Avize points to the necessity of taking these threats seriously, given the fact that 11,45% of Russian electorate, i.e., approximately 7,000,000 people, have voted for Zhirinovsky and his party. Diena, Latvijas Avize, Telegraf, Chas

‘Latvia should form a unified, integrated and liberal-democratic society with the wide rights for minorities’, says Artis Pabriks, author of the research study “Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector in Latvia” and a newly appointed head of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee. According to the study, ethnic Latvians dominate in the state sector, in spite of the fact that they comprise 58% of total population, and ethnic Russians, for example, comprise 28%. In the Saeima, minorities’ representation is 20%, but in the government they are not represented. Artis Pabriks regards the large amount of non-citizens, not willing to naturalize, and lack of Latvian language knowledge among many Latvian residents,  as the main cleavages in the society. 

‘Latvia should form a unified, integrated and liberal-democratic society with the wide rights for minorities, says Artis Pabriks, author of the research study Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector in Latvia and a newly appointed head of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee. According to the study, ethnic Latvians dominate in the state sector, in spite of the fact that they comprise 58% of total population, and ethnic Russians, for example, comprise 28%. In the Saeima, minorities representation is 20%, but in the government they are not represented. Artis Pabriks regards the large amount of non-citizens, not willing to naturalize, and lack of Latvian language knowledge among many Latvian residents, as the main cleavages in the society. Latvijas Avize, Chas

Chas features an interview with the Minister of Education and Science Juris Radzevics about the implementation of the education reform. Juris Radzevics believes that communication between the Ministry and the society has not been effective up to now, and wants to create a bridge between the power structures and the public at least in the field of education.

Latvijas Avize features an article about the appeal of the union For Human Rights in the United Latvia to the European Parliament to provide official status to the Russian language in the EU. According to the officials of the EU institutions, interviewed by the journalist, decision lies with Latvia, not with the EU. In order to claim the status of the EU official language, Russian should be first recognized as the state language in Latvia, and then also get an approval from the other 24 member states, which is not likely.

Cabinet of Ministers Committee has approved the draft regulation stipulating that foreigners applying for permanent residence in Latvia should pass the Latvian language examination.

Cabinet of Ministers Committee has approved the draft regulation stipulating that foreigners applying for permanent residence in Latvia should pass the Latvian language examination. Telegraf

Chas publishes a commentary of FHRUL MP Vladimirs Buzajevs on the situation with a 6-month old child of the Latvian non-citizen and the Lithuanian citizen. According to Buzajevs, the child cannot be registered as a Latvian non-citizen and acquire a personal code on the grounds that one of the parents has a valid citizenship of the other country.

Latvijas avize comments on the European Week against Racism, which is being organized in Latvia for a second year in the row. According to the journalist Aija Calite, public attention had been again drawn to the fact that racism exists in Latvia, and studies claiming to prove it have been published. Aija Calite believes that Latvian people are not obliged to prove all the time that they are not racists. Although Aija Calite cannot guarantee that there are no racists in Latvia, she believes that according to the principle of individual responsibility in the liberal democratic society, community at large cannot bear responsibility for someones racist attitudes.

Telegraf features an interview with the MP of Russia State Council Konstantin Zatulin (Jedinaya Rossia) about the relationship between Latvia and Russia.

Chas writes about the celebration of the Muslim New Year, organized by the Uzbek cultural society Nur.

Integration and Minority Information Service
of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies

• President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga returns to Saeima the law On the Status of Former Citizens of the USSR who are Not Citizens of Latvia or Any Other State
• President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga discusses recent protest actions against the education reform with the chairpersons of the state security institutions
• Call of Saeima Citizenship Law Implementation Committee to resolve the problem of Latvian and Russian dual citizens entering Latvia
• For Human Rights in the United Latvia requests European Parliament to change the language policy in the enlarged EU
• Russia agrees to apply the treaty on collaboration between Russia and the European Union to the new member states
• Conference Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector
• Saeima Speaker Ingrida Udre discusses the society integration issues with the representatives of the largest religious confessions
• Commentary by Aleksandrs Malnacs about the increasing amount of naturalization applications

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has returned to Saeima the law “On the Status of Former Citizens of the USSR who are Not Citizens of Latvia or Any Other State” for review. The president regards amendments to the law allowing for depriving persons who have obtained a residence permit in another country of the non-citizen status of Latvia as ungrounded.

President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has returned to Saeima the law On the Status of Former Citizens of the USSR who are Not Citizens of Latvia or Any Other State for review. The president regards amendments to the law allowing for depriving persons who have obtained a residence permit in another country of the non-citizen status of Latvia as ungrounded. Diena, Latvijas Avize, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Telegraf, Chas, Vesti Segodnya

Yesterday the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga met the chairpersons of the state security institutions. According to the chairman of the State Security Police Janis Reinis, during this meeting issue of protest actions against the education reform, organized by the Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language schools was also discussed.  

Yesterday the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga met the chairpersons of the state security institutions. According to the chairman of the State Security Police Janis Reinis, during this meeting issue of protest actions against the education reform, organized by the Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language schools was also discussed. Diena, Latvijas Avize, Telegraf, Vesti Segodnya

Saeima Citizenship Law Implementation Committee has asked Foreign Affairs Ministry to draw up proposals on resolving the problem concerning persons with dual Latvian and Russian citizenship. According to the head of this committee Anta Rugate, Russia regards those persons as citizens of Russia, and requires them to have a Latvian visa before traveling to Latvia, but Latvian laws do not foresee possibility of issuing an entry visa delivery to the citizens of Latvia.

Saeima Citizenship Law Implementation Committee has asked Foreign Affairs Ministry to draw up proposals on resolving the problem concerning persons with dual Latvian and Russian citizenship. According to the head of this committee Anta Rugate, Russia regards those persons as citizens of Russia, and requires them to have a Latvian visa before traveling to Latvia, but Latvian laws do not foresee possibility of issuing an entry visa delivery to the citizens of Latvia. Latvijas Avize, Chas, Vesti Segodnya

Vesti Segodnya features an appeal of the union For Human Rights in the United Latvia (FHRUL) to members of the European Parliament for developing a public discussion about the cardinal shift in the language policy of the enlarged EU. According to the FHRUL, it is illogical that status of the EU official language is not granted to several languages, each used by at least five million speakers, i.e., Russian, Turkish, Arabian and Catalonian.

Russia Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Chizhov during the negotiations with the European Commission has agreed to apply the treaty on collaboration between Russia and the European Union also to the new member states of the EU. Previously Russia stated that the treaty could not been applied to Latvia and Estonia as these states allegedly do not observe Russian-speakers’ rights.

Russia Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Chizhov during the negotiations with the European Commission has agreed to apply the treaty on collaboration between Russia and the European Union also to the new member states of the EU. Previously Russia stated that the treaty could not been applied to Latvia and Estonia as these states allegedly do not observe Russian-speakers rights. Diena, Neatkariga Rita Avize

Today the three-day conference “Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector”, organized by the UN Research Institute for Social Development  , the UN Development Program and the Latvian Secretariat of the Special Task Minister for Society Integration begins in Riga.

Today the three-day conference Ethnic structure, inequality and the Governance of the Public Sector, organized by the UN Research Institute for Social Development,the UNDevelopmentProgram and the Latvian Secretariat of the Special Task Minister for Society Integration begins in Riga. Latvijas Vestnesis

Saeima Speaker Ingrida Udre has met with the representatives of the largest religious confessions in order to discuss the integration issues. Archbishop of the Lutheran Church Janis Vanags believes that Russia holds  the key to the society integration in Latvia. According to him, the integration process in Latvia will be hindered until Russia agrees to bear responsibility for the crimes of the communist regime.

Saeima Speaker Ingrida Udre has met with the representatives of the largest religious confessions in order to discuss the integration issues. Archbishop of the Lutheran Church Janis Vanags believes that Russia holds the key to the society integration in Latvia. According to him, the integration process in Latvia will be hindered until Russia agrees to bear responsibility for the crimes of the communist regime. Latvijas Avize, Telegraf, Vesti Segodnya

Chas features a commentary by Aleksandrs Malnacs about the increasing amount of naturalization applications during the last months. He holds an opinion that the main reason behind it is that the non-citizens finally realized that by withdrawing from the active civil participation they actually help the far right political forces to implement nationalistic and russophobic policy, as well as understood that no one else will fight for their and their childrens rights.

Integration and Minority Information Service
of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies

• Former Prime Minister Andris Berzins blames former Minister for Education and Science Karlis Sadurskis for complications with the education reforms implementation
• Article questioning credibility of the non-governmental organizations Rietumu krievi and Pilsoniska iniciativa XXI
• Results of the survey Ukrainians in Latvia

Vesti Segodnya prints an interview with the former Prime Minister Andris Berzins about the education reform and Latvias accession to the European Union. Andris Berzins claims that all present complications with the education reform are the consequences of the unprofessional actions of the former minister for education and science. According to the former prime minister, his government has completed the monitoring of minority schools preparedness to the reform, and next Minister for Education and Science Karlis Sadurskis just had to develop a dialogue with all the stakeholders based on the monitoring results, but he chose a different way, and now it will be very difficult to achieve a compromise.

Chas features a critical article about the non-governmental organizationsRietumu krievi (Western Russians)and Pilsoniska iniciativa XXI (Civic initiative XXI)in response to the recent publications in the Latvian-language newspapers Diena and Latvijas Avize, where representatives of these organizations criticize activities of the Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language Schools. Chas claims that organizations in question cannot represent the opinion of the Russian community and Russian intelligentsia on the education reform because total number of their staff is 5 persons. According to the newspaper, organization Rietumu Krievi is ‘substantially financed by the government, as they receive funding from the EU PHARE society integration program, which is administrated by the Society Integration Foundation.

Public policy portal

Public policy portal www.politika.lv features an article by the sociologist Natalija Lisogorova about results of the survey Ukrainians in Latvia about the attitude of the Ukrainian minority towards the issues of naturalization and Latvias accession to the EU. According to Natalija Lisogorova, Ukrainians join in the integration process very slowly – only 16, 3% of them have naturalized until now, which is the lowest naturalization level among Latvian minorities. At the same time, 46% of Ukrainians support integration, but 61% believe that the process of integration has not started yet. The sociologist believes it proves that there are different views on integration aims and principles within the society, and that formalization of the state integration structures has possibly distanced them from the Ukrainian minoritys needs and interests.