• European Court of Human Rights partly satisfies a claim of the Sisojev family against Latvia
• An interview with the former Prime Minister Indulis Emsis
• An article about the conference ‘Russian-speakers in the EU: Formation of the Civil Society

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has partly satisfied a claim of the Sisojev family against Latvia. The applicants claimed that the state had violated Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to grant them permanent residents’ status to them. Although the court recognised that sometimes the state has a right to interfere into the persons’ private and family life making decisions in the context of immigration, it was also stressed that the personal, social and economic ties of the family should be considered. Hence the ECHR recognised that the state institutions violated Article 8 of the Convention. The state was also obligated to pay a compensation of EUR 15,000 to the applicants. The former military of the Soviet army Arkadijs Sisojevs and his family arrived in Latvia in 1960ies and their two daughters were born in Latvia. After the re-established of Latvia’s independence, members of the Sisojevs’ family became stateless person and received the residence permit in Latvia. In 1995 the members of the Sisojev family were excluded form the permanent resistents’ register when it became known that the complainants, who were using passports of the former USSR, had registered their residence also in Russia. In 1996 Arkadijs Sisojevs and his daughter received citizenship of Russia.

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has partly satisfied a claim of the Sisojev family against Latvia. The applicants claimed that the state had violated Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights by refusing to grant them permanent residents status to them. Although the court recognised that sometimes the state has a right to interfere into the persons private and family life making decisions in the context of immigration, it was also stressed that the personal, social and economic ties of the family should be considered. Hence the ECHR recognised that the state institutions violated Article 8 of the Convention. The state was also obligated to pay a compensation of EUR15,000 to the applicants. The former military of the Soviet army Arkadijs Sisojevs and his family arrived in Latvia in 1960ies and their two daughters were born in Latvia. After the re-established of Latvias independence, members of the Sisojevs family became stateless person and received the residence permit in Latvia. In 1995 the members of the Sisojev family were excluded form the permanent resistents register when it became known that the complainants, who were using passports of the former USSR, had registered their residence also in Russia. In 1996 Arkadijs Sisojevs and his daughter received citizenship of Russia. Diena, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Chas, Vesti Segodnya

Chas features an interview with the former Prime Minister Indulis Emsis about the implementation of the minority education reform and the causes of the tension in society. The former prime minister believes that the discussion about the deterioration of the quality of education due to the implementation of the minority education reform is not topical as the results of the centralised exams show that the knowledge of the students learning at Russian-language schools are a little bit better than those of students learning in Latvian-language schools. Emsis also believes that the tension in society is caused by the desire of certain politicians to gather more votes using radical ideas.

Chas informs about the conference ‘Russian-speakers in the EU: Formation of the Civil Society taking place in Brussels today. It is planned to establish also a Federation of the EU Russian Parties during this conference.

• Teachers conference about the implementation of the minority education reform takes place in Riga
• Head of Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee Aleksandrs Kirsteins resigns from the post

Russian-language newspapers report on the Riga teachers’ conference ‘Learning Process in Minority Schools’ 10th grades – Creative Experience and Problems’, which discussed the implementation of minority education reform. While the representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, referring to opinion surveys conducted by the Ministry’s Education Inspection Board of minority schools directors, teachers, students and their parents evaluated the implementation of the minority education reform as successful, another study, conducted by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Latvia highlighted several problems in this realm. The results of the opinion survey of minority teachers of mathematics and history, teaching their subjects in Latvian at 10th grades, showed that teachers are short of time when teaching subjects in Latvian. At the same time, teachers have also drawn attention to the fact that as students have varying Latvian language proficiency levels, part of them are excluded from discussions due to inadequate knowledge of Latvian. This has lead to an increasing loss of interest by minority students in the subjects.

Russian-language newspapers report on the Riga teachers conference ‘Learning Process in Minority Schools 10th grades – Creative Experience and Problems, which discussed the implementation of minority education reform. While the representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, referring to opinion surveys conducted by the Ministrys Education Inspection Board of minority schools directors, teachers, students and their parents evaluated the implementation of the minority education reform as successful, another study, conducted by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Latvia highlighted several problems in this realm. The results of the opinion survey of minority teachers of mathematics and history, teaching their subjects in Latvian at 10th grades, showed that teachers are short of time when teaching subjects in Latvian. At the same time, teachers have also drawn attention to the fact that as students have varying Latvian language proficiency levels, part of them are excluded from discussions due to inadequate knowledge of Latvian. This has lead to an increasing loss of interest by minority students in the subjects. Chas, Telegraf

Yesterday the Head of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee Aleksandrs Kirsteins announced his resignation from the post. The representative of the People’s Party Vaira Paegle was elected the new head of the committee. As reported previously, the People’s Party expelled Kirsteins from the party when a number of human rights experts evaluated his statements as bordering on anti-Semitism and incitement to national hatred.

Yesterday the Head of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee Aleksandrs Kirsteins announced his resignation from the post. The representative of the Peoples Party Vaira Paegle was elected the new head of the committee. As reported previously, the Peoples Party expelled Kirsteins from the party when a number of human rights experts evaluated his statements as bordering on anti-Semitism and incitement to national hatred. Diena, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Latvijas Avize, Chas, Telegraf

• Latvijas Avize discusses the results of the study ‘Ethnopolitical Tensions in Latvia: Looking for the Conflict Solution
• Discussion on allegedly racially motivated incidents in Riga

Latvijas Avize discusses the results of the study ‘Ethnopolitical Tensions in Latvia: Looking for the Conflict Solution by the Baltic Institute of Social Sciences. According to the study, the main source of conflict is lack of consensus between the ethnic majority and minorities on ethnic policies implemented by the state. The authors of the study also conclude that, according to the conflict dynamics, Latvia is at the second stage, i.e., the ‘competition stage, which is typified by increasing competitiveness in relations between the ethnic groups. Political analyst Zanete Ozolina and ethnologist Ilmars Mezs, interviewed by the newspaper, regard as unacceptable the usage of the term ‘conflict in describing the current ethnic situation in Latvia. According to the experts, one can only speak about disagreements between ethnic groups or tensions among several political groups, but not about the conflict situation in society.

Public policy portal

Public policy portal www.politika.lv discusses the allegedly racially motivated incidents and the unwillingness of the police to open criminal cases. The expert in criminal law Andrejs Judins points to the two main factors influencing police decisions. The first problem is the need to prove that the person acted with a clear motivation to incite national or racial hatred. Judins points to the need to broadly evaluate the circumstances of the case, because according to the Article 78 of the Criminal Law the person can be charged with incitement of national or racial hatred also in the case when s/he explicitly denies the intention to incite national or racial hatred. According to the expert, it is also frequent, that the scope of the criminal offence is evaluated narrowly by the police because of the prevailing opinion that the above article of the Criminal Law is only applicable in cases when considerable injuries have been caused to the victim.

• Court sentences an 18-year-old man for incitement of national hatred on the Internet
• Telegraf about the situation of Russian community in Latvia
• Latvian Association for the Support of Russian-language Schools elects a new chairperson
• Lithuanian Culture Days will take place in Riga from 16 June – 2 July

Yesterday Riga District Court (Rigas apgabaltiesa) charged 18-year-old Ronalds Undzens to a suspended sentence of six months with a six months probation period for incitement of national hatred on the Internet. Last October Ronalds Undzens made available on the Internet two songs, which expressed offences towards Latvians and propagandised superiority of Russians.

Yesterday Riga District Court (Rigas apgabaltiesa) charged 18-year-old Ronalds Undzens to a suspended sentence of six months with a six months probation period for incitement of national hatred on the Internet. Last October Ronalds Undzens made available on the Internet two songs, which expressed offences towards Latvians and propagandised superiority of Russians. Diena, Vesti Segodnya

Telegraf writes about the situation of the Russian community in Latvia. The newspaper argues that left-wing politicians claim to act on the behalf of all Russian speakers, while voices of minority NGOs are not heard. A leader of the Congress of the Defenders of Russian-language Schools Mihails Tjasins states that within last year consolidation of Russians has increased. Mihails Tjasins explains that common goals, such as elimination of discrimination on the grounds of citizenship and a necessity to defend Russian-language schools, have fostered consolidation.

Igors Pimenovs has been elected to the post of chairperson of the Latvian Association for the Support of Russian-language Schools. The new chairman announced that the organisation will continue development of alternative bilingual education programmes for Russian-language schools and evaluation of effective programmes.

Igors Pimenovs has been elected to the post of chairperson of the Latvian Association for the Support of Russian-language Schools. The new chairman announced that the organisation will continue development of alternative bilingual education programmes for Russian-language schools and evaluation of effective programmes. Telegraf

The Lithuanian Culture Days will take place in Riga from 16 June – 2 July. During the culture days there will be exhibitions about cultural traditions of Lithuanians.

The Lithuanian Culture Days will take place in Riga from 16 June – 2 July. During the culture days there will be exhibitions about cultural traditions of Lithuanians. Neatkariga Rita Avize, Vesti Segodnya

• Former prime ministers discuss societal integration issues
• Latvijas Avize reports on the international conference ‘Language in Education – Possibilities and Challenges held in Riga
• Tatjana Zdanoka: the European Parliament may review the resolution on minority rights adopted last week

Chas reports on the discussions of former Latvian prime ministers on societal integration issues. The discussions were held during the conference ‘Power and the People: Any Opportunities to Reduce the Gap? The former Prime Minister Andris Berzins stated that the present situation reveals ethnic confrontation, therefore it is time to discuss a peaceful co-existence of the two communities instead of talking about ethnic integration. While the former Prime Minister Indulis Emsis said that confrontation between Latvians and Russians is still possible, in particular, in the area of implementation of the minority education reform.

Latvijas Avize reports on the international conference ‘Language in Education – Possibilities and Challenges. One of the discussion topics was the implementation of the minority education reform. One of minority school directors Romans Alijevs noted to the necessity to promote cooperation among teachers who work with bilingual methods.

Telegraf features views of the MEP Tatjana Zdanok (For Human Rights in the United Latvia) on the resolution on minority rights in the enlarged EU adopted last Wednesday by the European Parliament. As reported, the proposals to grant Latvian non-citizens the right to participate in municipal elections as well as the right to travel within the EU territory without visa were removed. According to Tatyana Zdanok, also the proposal (supported by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs) to ratify the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities without any reservations and declarations was removed. The MP expresses her incomprehension about the removal of these proposals from the document and believes that the document will be repeatedly reviewed.