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.

• Media report about an attack on a Ukrainian girl by two other girls because of wrong pronunciation in Russian
• Latvijas Avize report about the conclusions of a research “Analyses of Integration Process of Latvian Non-citizens: Study, Forecasts, Solutions, and Dialogue”
• Neatkariga reports about a study “Russia’s Public Diplomacy in Latvia: Media and Non-governmental Sector”

Newspapers report about a case involving a girl, a Ukrainian asylum seeker, allegedly attacked because of her wrong pronunciation in Russian.  The police have challenged the initial media story by calling the incident an ordinary conflict without ethnic undertones. The incident happened during a drawing class at a youth centre in the city of Jelgava, when the Ukrainian girl had used Ukrainian words for stationary instead of Russian ones which had led to ridiculing and aggressive conduct by other girls. Shortly after the story about the incident appeared in the media, the police received a complaint from the father of the Ukrainian girl about the conflict which had occurred on 16 September. The police have opened an administrative case about the incident, but after taking witness statements and assessing other facts deny the fact that the girl was attacked because she is Ukrainian. Latvijas Avize, Diena

Latvijas Avize reports about the conclusions of a research project “Analyses of the Integration Process of Latvian Non-citizens: Study, Forecasts, Solutions, and Dialogue” conducted by the Baltic Institute of Social Sciences. The survey conducted as part of  research showed that, despite non-citizens claims that the status of a non-citizen is discriminatory and causes inconvenience, they were unable to provide specific examples of discrimination. At the same time, non-citizens acknowledged that the status enables them to travel to Russia without visas. According to one of the researchers Inese Supule, the differences in the rights of citizens and non-citizens mainly concern political rights and the right to occupy certain posts and professions. According to the research the dissatisfaction about the status of a non-citizen is caused by subjective feelings of discrimination based more on emotions than arguments. Such feelings are exacerbated by certain politicians to the left who try to convince that such status is humiliating, while certain politicians to the right question the loyalty of non-citizens and new naturalised citizens towards Latvia. A large number of non-citizens who took part in the survey said that they were not aware about the Non-citizens  Congress which claims to be the defender of non-citizen rights and interests. According to the research, in 20 years the number of non-citizens in Latvia will decrease from present 282, 000 to 74,000 persons.

Neatkariga reports about a study “Russia’s Public Diplomacy in Latvia: Media and Non-governmental Sector” conducted by the Eastern European Policy Research Centre. Authors of the study highlight two main instruments of Russia’s propaganda aimed at splitting  the Latvian society: dissemination of perceptions that Russian speaking residents in Latvia are discriminated of and the imposition of Russia’s interpretation of history. The authors also believe that in order to resist Russia’s propaganda, Riga should become the centre of Russian democracy where Russian democrats and liberals would create alternatives to Russia’s propaganda. The authors also propose that the transmission of Russia’s “undesirable” TV channels in Latvia be ceased.