• Delegation of the Congress of non-citizens hold meetings in Brussels

 

On 30 July 2013 a delegation of the Congress of non-citizens visited Brussels, holding meetings with representatives of the European Commission, civil society and mass media. During a meeting, the Head of Unit Fundamental rights and rights of the child Ms Salla Saastamoinen compared Latvia's Congress of non-citizens to civil society activities in Finland and Germany. Representatives of the Congress believe the experience of involvement of non-citizens could be beneficial for Latvian government, which strives to encourage the return of those citizens of Latvia, who emigrated during the financial crisis. Vesti-Segodnya

• Janis Iesalnieks uses ethnic slur arguing for extradition of ethnic minority cyber crime suspect

 

Newspapers report about unexpected twist of controversy regarding the request of the U.S.A. to extradite ethnic minority Latvian citizen Deniss Calovskis suspected of cyber crimes. As the extradition was delayed, Janis Iesalnieks, board member of the radical nationalist union "All for Latvia! - For Fatherland and Freedom / Latvian National Independence Movement" (AFL!-FFF/LNIM), a senior consultant to the AFL!-FFF/LNIM has commented in his Twitter account: "Why do we need this criminal "urlens"? Getting rid of those is completely in accordance with the positions of the National union". NRA commented that so far, none of Latvia's government parties was so open about sorting out the citizens by ethnicity. "Urla" is an outdated slang term, which in 1930s-1950s was used to describe criminals, and which is currently applied by some radical nationalists to describe ethnic Russians. Latvijas Avize, NRA, Vesti-Segodnya

• President Andris Berzins: a new generation has emerged, which is fluent in Latvian, yet is not interested in integration

 In an interview with the news agency Baltic Business Service, the President of the Republic of Latvia Andris Berzins has stated that since independence, a whole new generation has emerged, which is fluent in Latvian, yet is not interested in integration of society. Mr.Berzins believes this issue needs more attention, and it is necessary to analyse how to attract the majority of the society to the idea of forming an integrated society. In the meantime, the President believes that on the everyday level, the cleavages between different groups of society are still not very deep. The president suggests that one of the positive ways of facilitating integration of society is the inclusion of national minority groups in the Latvian Song and Dance Festival. Vesti-Segodnya

• Shimon Peres and Andris Berzins opened the memorial to the saviour of Jews Zanis Lipke
• The Parliament of Unrepresented is planning to establish a museum which would tell about the institute of non-citizenship and about the Soviet era in Latvia.

 

On 30 July 2013 the President of the State of Israel Shimon Peres and the President of the Republic of Latvia Andris Berzins participated in the opening ceremony of the memorial to the saviour of Jews during the WWII in Latvia Janis Lipke. The President Andris Berzins likened this memorial to the Noah's Ark and cited the inscription on the “Righteous among the Nations” award: "Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved an entire universe". Diena, Latvijas Avize, NRA, Vesti-Segodnya

 

The Parliament of Unrepresented is planning to establish a museum consisting of four sections: establishment of non-citizens of Latvia; life during the Soviet era told by the people themselves; overview of damages and violations of rights since 1991; personal stories of "humiliation, insults and problems" experienced by the people. The authors of the initiative claim the official version of Latvia's history is biased and are calling all the people of Latvia to share their "life memories", regardless of ethnicity or citizenship. The Parliament of Unrepresented is unofficial body which claims to represent the interests of Latvia's non-citizens, whose voting rights were revoked since 1991. Representative of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia welcomes the development of new museums which represent various sides of Latvia's history and believes the exhibition of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia is well-balanced; the Latvian riflemen museum building was granted to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia according to a specific law and the state structures included it into official protocol. Vesti-Segodnya

• Simon Peres: Latvia and Israel can create a better world without racism, hate and anti-Semitism

 

Newspapers report about the visit of the President of the State of Israel Simon Peres to Latvia on 29-30 July 2013. Mr.Peres with the President of the Republic of Latvia Andris Berzins attended the memorial to the victims of Holocaust in Latvia. During the meeting with the President of the Republic of Latvia Andris Berzins, Mr.Peres has stated that "small countries like Latvia and Israel can become large, creating a new, better world without racism, hate and anti-Semitism". Latvijas Avize, NRA, Vesti-Segodnya