Integration monitor is a daily Latvian press digest on ethnic minority and society integration issues. The Monitor reviews the biggest Latvian dailies: Diena, Latvijas Avize, Neatkariga (in Latvian language), Vesti Segodnya (in Russian language). In specific cases other information sources are used. Latvian Centre for Human Rights is not responsible for information published by the media.

• Police will not check how the millionaire Sergejs Zaharjins received Latvian citizenship
• Vesti Segodnya: unified examination in Latvian language reduces the chances of graduators of Russian language schools to proceed for university scholarship

The State Police refused to initiate a criminal procedure against the head of the board of the biggest Latvian metallurgical enterprise “Liepajas Metalurgs”, millionaire Sergejs Zaharjins checking whether he legally received Latvian citizenship. Sergejs Zaharjins received Latvian citizenship trough naturalisation procedure in 1999. However, the police received a complaint by a person who asserts that the state language proficiency of Mr Zaharjins is too low and doubts that he could pass the naturalisation procedure legally. Neatkariga

According to Vesti Segodnya, unified state examination in Latvia language reduces the chances of graduators of Russian language schools to proceed for scholarship in the state funded higher education establishment. The main evaluation criteria for admission to higher education establishment are evaluation received in Latvian language examination and in profile subject.  But, considering that for ethnic minority students it is much harder to receive high evaluation in the state language examination than for those for whom Latvian is a native language, the examination reduces the chances of the minority students to receive scholarship. The newspaper reports about a case when a student of a Russian language school who graduated school with excellence, failed to receive scholarship at university due to insufficient evaluation in the Latvian language exam.