• Latvijas Avize reports about one of the young guardians’ camp attended also by ethnic minorities

Latvijas Avize reports about one of the young guardians’ camp conducted in June in one of the Latvian regions. The newspaper stresses that such camps are attended also by ethnic minority young people. One of the aims of the camps is to promote patriotism and civil integration, helping young people to become responsible and active Latvian citizens.  Young guardians interviewed by the newspaper said that they would be ready to protect Latvia if a military invasion by an enemy happens.

• Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Preamble to the Constitution is not in the competence of the Russia’s Ambassador to Latvia

The Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs following criticism made by the Russia’s Ambassador to Latvia Aleksandr Veshnyakov about the adoption of the Preamble to the Constitution of Latvia stated that this issue is not the competence of the Ambassador. The Ambassador Veshnyakov in an interview with a TV channel stated that instead of positive effect on consolidation of the society, the Preamble will lead to confrontation. Also the Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs distributed a statement saying that the Preamble will facilitate ethnic split in Latvian society. The Latvian Ministry stated that the Ambassador should better worry about the legal provisions adopted by Russia’s legislator. Vesti Segodnya

• Ministry of Justicepresented an informative report on legal regulation concerning incitement of national or ethnic hatred
• Survey: 28% of Latvian non-citizens fluently speak Latvian language

Vesti Segodnya reports about an informative report on legal regulation concerning incitement of national or ethnic hatred prepared by the Ministry of Justice and presented to the Cabinet of Ministers. Presently the Article 78 of the Criminal Law says that a person can be punished with imprisonment up to three years or short-term imprisonment or social services or pecuniary penalty for conscious action aimed at instigation of national, ethnic or racial hatred or discord; and punished with imprisonment up to ten years with (or without) probation period of up to three years for the same action if it involved violence or threats, or committed by a group of persons, or by a state official, or a responsible employee of an enterprise or organisation, or committed using automated data processing system. There are proposals to amend the Article 78: to add liability also for instigation of religious hate or discord and to exclude the word “conscious”. It is also proposed to differentiate sanctions according to who has committed a crime and to stipulate more severe liability for crime involving violence. The Ministry of Justice also proposes to add racial, nationalistic, ethnic, religious or xenophobic motivation to the Article 48 (Aggravating Circumstances). 

According to a survey conducted by the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, 28% of Latvian non-citizens fluently speak Latvian language, 31% can communicate in Latvian or use simple phrases. There is also a positive tendency on decrease of those non-citizens who are not proficient in Latvian at all. Authors of the survey concluded that the better is the state language proficiency of non-citizens the greater is their desire to receive Latvian citizenship. Vesti Segodnya

• Saeima has adopted the Preamble to the Constitution of Latvia in the final reading

Yesterday, the Saeima has adopted the Introduction or Preamble to the Constitution of Latvia in the final reading. The Preamble was not supported only by the oppositional faction of the Concord Centre whose members believe that it is a step towards deepening of ethnic split in the society. The Preamble says that establishment of Latvian state was based upon the irrevocable will of the ethnic Latvian nation in order to guarantee existence and development of Latvian nation language, and culture through centuries. Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya, Neatkariga

• Coalition of minority organisations loyal to the state is planning to apply for state funding managed by five intermediaries
• Representative of the State Language Centre drafts amendments to the Administrative Violations Code to fine municipalities for provision of information in other languages
• The Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs presented the results of a survey of the reasons why the non-citizens are not applying for naturalisation

 

The Ministry of Culture selected five "intermediaries" who will manage 140,000 EUR allocated by the state to support non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Funding available for single project ranges from 1,500 to 3,000 EUR in different regions. 7,000 EUR in every region (35,000 EUR in total) will be available to minority NGOs for identity and cultural heritage preservation, support of folk culture groups, intercultural dialogue etc. The "Coalition of minority NGOs for political participation", which united 11 minority organisations loyal to the state, is planning to apply for the funding. The representative of the Center for Education Initiatives highlights that the Coalition is different from other minority NGOs, which for political purposes make noise about minority rights. Latvija Avize

 The Chair of the Language Control Department of the State Language Centre Antons Kursitis drafts amendments to the Administrative Violations Code in order to envision fines for those representatives of municipalities, who provide information also in foreign languages. Some municipalities with large share of Russian-speaking minority citizens distribute municipal newsletters in two languages – Latvian and Russian. Mr. Kursitis highlights that these amendments would stop provision of information in Russian and emphasises that the more concessions you make to an aggressive minority, the more aggressive it becomes. Latvija Avize

 The Office for Citizenship and Migration Affairs presented the results of a survey of the reasons why the non-citizens of Latvia are not applying for naturalisation. According to the survey, 22% believe they would not be able to pass the exams, 19% believe they deserve citizenship automatically (by registration), 17% are awaiting for the naturalisation exams to be eased, 14% are satisfied with the status of non-citizen, 13% mention the right to visa-free travel to Russia. As of January 2014, there were 282,876 persons in Latvia with the status of non-citizen. The biggest group of the noncitizens are 71 years old or older (23%). Vesti Segodnya