The new restrictions adopted in Latvia regarding the Russian language are discrimination based on ethnic and linguistic principles. This was stated in an interview with Izvestia on September 26 by Russian Ambassador to Riga Mikhail Vanin, adding that Latvia has become a police state.
“Local authorities perceive the prevalence of the Russian language solely as a legacy of the “Soviet occupation”, a “tragic” consequence of the “forced Russification” of the Latvian people, a direct threat to the preservation of the Latvian language. The new restrictions, implying the squeezing of the Russian language from the public and educational spheres, are, in fact, outright discrimination on ethnic and linguistic grounds,” he stressed.
At the same time, the ambassador recalled that the Russian language in Latvia is the second most common and used in communication after the state language, it successfully served as the language of interethnic communication. For a third of the country’s population, he is native, although he has no status in Latvia, Vanin pointed out.
“Today’s Latvia is a police state, where an opinion that contradicts the official position is not welcomed, and dissidents are closely monitored by local special services,” the Russian diplomat stated.
Now the Ministry of Justice of Latvia is working on a bill that would limit the use of the Russian language at work and in public places. In addition, the Seimas approved amendments to the legislation on education, suggesting a complete transfer of education in schools of national minorities into Latvian.
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
“Today in Latvia we have to fight for the right to be Russian”
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