Minority issues in Latvia, No. 65

April 1, 2003


Content

- The education reform: a lustrum in two years

- EP Committee evaluates Latvia's application for EU membership

- Society Integration Foundation allocates funds for ethnic integration

- ECHR will consider the case Zhdanok v. Latvia

- The Parliament rejects proposal on Orthodox Easter and Christmas as holidays

- New pro-minority initiatives of NGOs

- New state language institution to be established

- Language splits patients and doctors

- MP: Latvia needs a strong army to get rid of occupants

- The first Latvian Jewish Congress held

- Experimental Roma class in Riga State Technical College



The education reform: a lustrum in two years

The aim of the envisaged minority education reform repeatedly described in our newsletter is 
to ensure the switch of state-supported minority secondary schools to the Latvian language of 
instruction in 2004. Yet, it seems that much is being done in order to facilitate and hasten the 
process by reducing the number of these schools and transforming them. Thus, the Education 
Committee of the Riga City Council has made a decision to transform the Russian-language school 
No. 17, merging it with the Latvian-language one. It is stated that as there are only 300 pupils 
in the school, it is possible to place the Latvian school in the same building. The problem traces 
its roots back to the year 1995, when the school was one of the largest Russian schools in the 
downtown. That year, as well as the forthcoming one, the Riga City Council ruled that only one 
first grade (class) has to be created and no supplementary admission to the tenth grades be 
allowed in this school. Soon, the number of the pupils of the Russian school reduced from 800 to 
300. Parents were reluctant to send their children to the school, which seemed not to have a 
chance to survive ("Vechernyaya Riga" ("The Evening Riga"), March 24). The next step was to 
transform the preliminary Latvian-language school into secondary and to make the school No. 17 
a "two-stream", with single administration.

There are also other evidences of the orchestrated process of elimination of the Russian-language 
schools. It is usually accompanied by gradual replacing of members of the schools administration 
with Latvian-speaking persons who would lead the reform in the right direction ("Chas" ("The Hour"), 
March 20). The Russian-language school No. 95 could be one example ("Vechernyaya Riga", March 
5). There, the school principal of the Russian ethnic origin had to resign due to insufficient knowledge 
of the Latvian language. She was replaced by the Latvian language teacher (ethnic Latvian). Soon, 
relationships between the teaching staff, parents and children, on one side, and the principal, 
on the other, became very tense; dozens of schoolchildren and teachers were and still are leaving 
the school. The parents addressed public officials who could dismiss the principal but failed to 
get any result. Moreover, the Education Committee of the Riga City Council decided not to discuss 
complaints written in Russian.

Our commentary

In our view, such off-the-record practice aimed at forceful reduction of the number of 
schoolchildren in the Russian schools is even more dangerous than their official transformation 
into schools with the Latvian language as the main language of instruction. It is being done 
on the permanent basis, yet silently. Parents addressing different institutions turn out to 
have no chance to influence this practice. Although the cases are declared to be unconnected, 
it seems that they may indeed be regarded as a part of well-thought and well-managed policy.



EP Committee evaluates Latvia's application for EU membership

The Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy of the 
European Parliament adopted draft recommendation on the application by the Republic of Latvia 
to become a member of the European Union (rapporteur MEP Elisabeth Schroedter) on March 17. 
The document is part of the package to be adopted by the European Parliament during its 
plenary meeting on April 8-9 giving assent for enlargement.

In the explanatory statement for the recommendation, Mrs Schroedter mentions that "the 
situation as regards the ethnic minorities has been a prominent cause of concern. While not 
denying that a strong focus on the preservation of the Latvian nation and language was only 
natural when Latvia regained its independence after decades of russification policy under the 
Soviet rule, the European Parliament noted that rules for the granting of citizenship and 
provisions on language use were partly incompatible with international standards. Amendments 
and new laws have now greatly improved the situation, as recognised also by the OSCE and 
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Membership in the EU will seal Latvia's 
successful political and economic transition. For this and other reasons, it should help to 
inspire confidence and thereby facilitate harmonious development of inter-ethnic relations." 
Besides, "increased funding would [...] permit expansion of Latvian language training and other 
measures to promote better integration of the ethnic minorities into Latvian society."

Our commentary

In our view, position of the European Union concerning minority issues in Latvia was to be more 
consistent and articulated more clearly. In 1990s other international actors, such as OSCE and 
the Council of Europe, were active in this field; role of the European Union was limited to 
economic issues. After the OSCE Mission to Latvia was closed, but monitoring of the Parliamentary 
Assembly of the Council of Europe terminated, the European Union remained the main actor in the 
field. However, EU was not ready to play this role. Therefore, position of the Union regarding 
key minority issues (such as minority education reform 2004) was very vague, partly because the 
EU has neither strict legal framework nor professional expertise in the field. This situation was 
used successfully by the Latvian authorities: key issues were not mentioned at all during the 
process of negotiations (for example, the issue of non-citizens was not discussed properly 
- see Minority issues in Latvia, No. 64). Now, after Latvia joins the European Union, the Union 
itself will be forced to solve minority problems in the country, but the Latvian authorities 
will claim that it would be unfair to impose any additional requirement on the full-fledged EU 
member state, if such requirements were not mentioned during the pre-accession process.



Society Integration Foundation allocates funds for ethnic integration

The Society Integration Foundation has adopted plan of allocation of 217,000 Lats (approx. 
EUR 350,000) from the state budget for the projects to be submitted in 2003. 119,000 Lats 
are allocated for ethnic integration: 30,000 Lats for NGOs' projects aimed at ethnic 
integration, 30,000 Lats for support of minority education, language and culture, 25,000 Lats 
for school co-operation, 19,000 Lats for media projects in support of cohesion in the society 
and 15,000 Lats for projects in the field of repatriation, migration and co-operation with 
compatriots abroad.

Besides, the Foundation plans to announce competition of projects aimed at Latvian language 
training for adults, also supported by the state budget. The Foundation will also manage 
Phare financial support for projects aimed at ethnic integration ("Neatkariga Rita Avize" ("The 
Independent Morning Newspaper"), March 21).



ECHR will consider the case Zhdanok v. Latvia

The European Court of Human Rights has recognised admissible application of Tatyana Zhdanok, 
leader of the "Equal Rights" party (member of pro-minority coalition "For Human Rights in United 
Latvia" - "HRUL") and co-chairperson of the Latvian Human Rights Committee. The decision on 
admissibility was adopted on March 6 (available in French at at the ECHR website). 

Electoral legislation of Latvia provides that persons who were active in the Communist Party, 
Komsomol, Interfront, and some veteran organizations after January 13, 1991, cannot run for both 
parliamentary and municipal elections (although these organizations were legislatively banned only 
in August 1991 - see corresponding provisions of the Saeima Election Law). Mrs. Zhdanok was a 
member of the Inner Audit Commission in the Latvian Communist Party, therefore in December 1999 she 
was deprived of the Riga City Council deputy's mandate on the reason of alleged "activities" in 
the Latvian Communist Party after January 13, 1991 (see Minority issues in Latvia, No. 10). 
In August 2002, the Central Election Commission decided to strike Mrs. Zhdanok's name off the 
electoral list of the People's Harmony Party (another former part of the "HRUL" coalition) (see 
Minority issues in Latvia, No. 53).

In August 2000 the Constitutional Court of Latvia passed its judgment regarding compliance of 
the political restrictions in the electoral legislation with the Constitution, the European Convention 
of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Court found 
that the restrictions were well-reasoned and legitimate, but recommended to introduce the time 
limit for them (see Minority issues in Latvia, No. 19, full English text of the judgment; and
dissenting opinion of three judges). Political restrictions for deputy candidates were criticised 
by the International Election Observation Mission to Latvia in October 2002 (see Minority issues 
in Latvia, No. 57).

Mrs. Zhdanok brought the case before the European Court of Human Rights claiming violation 
of Article 10 (the freedom of thought), Article 11 (the freedom of association), as well as 
Article 3 of the Protocol No. 1 (the right to free elections) of the European Convention for 
the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Court will consider the case 
on the merits in public hearing on May 15 ("Chas" ("The Hour"), March 26). Judgment will 
be very significant for political developments in Latvia, as several prominent left-wing 
politicians so far cannot participate in the elections due to political restrictions mentioned 
above.



The Parliament rejects proposal on Orthodox Easter and Christmas as holidays

The Saeima (Parliament) rejected amendments to the Law on Holidays, Commemoration Days and 
Celebratory Days allowing Latvia's Orthodox and Old-believer community to celebrate Easter 
and Christmas on their dates, thus obtaining the right to official holiday, as the Protestants and 
Catholics do have. The proposal was submitted by the People's Harmony Party; 27 MPs voted for it 
(oppositional pro-minority People's Harmony Party and coalition "HRUL", as well as 3 MPs from the 
ruling Union of Greens and Farmers), 14 MPs voted "against", 52 abstained. Similar amendments 
were submitted by the coalition "HRUL" in December 2002, but were rejected too (see Minority issues 
in Latvia, No. 61). The Orthodox community is the third biggest religious community in the country 
after the Lutherans and Catholics; there are more than 350,000 Orthodox and Old believers in 
Latvia.



New pro-minority initiatives of NGOs

The NGO Union of Citizens and Non-citizens has presented two proposals on minority issues. 
A letter to the President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga has been presented recently, asking 
to provide voting rights at municipal elections for Latvia's non-citizens. The letter was signed 
by the Union of Citizens and Non-citizens, "Civil Initiative XXI", Latvian Human Rights Committee, 
LASHOR (Association for Support of Russian-language schools in Latvia), Latvian Russian 
Community (ROL), and a number of other pro-minority NGOs.

Another letter addressed to Minister for Special Task in the Field of Integration Affairs 
Nils Muiznieks is being prepared. The Union of Citizens and Non-citizens and other NGOs 
propose to grant citizenship without naturalisation procedures for persons, who received 
school education in Latvia since 1991, regardless of the language of instruction (now only 
persons, who received education in Latvian, can obtain the citizenship by registration). 
Besides, it is proposed to abolish political restrictions for naturalisation (e.g. for former 
Communists or Soviet army officers).

NGOs propose to set up municipal consultative councils on minority issues in areas, where 
minorities live in substantial numbers, as well as to put 3-year-long moratorium (till 2007) 
for transition to Latvian as the sole language of instruction in state-supported secondary 
schools, aiming at better evaluation of the situation and finding resolution of the problem 
in long-term perspective. It is also proposed to abolish 25% quota for telecasting/broadcasting 
in languages other than Latvian.



New state language institution to be established

The Cabinet of Ministers has started discussion about creation of the new state institution 
- the State Language Agency. Financial support for the new institution is provided by the 
budget from April 1.

The Agency will be subordinated to the Ministry of Education and Science. Its staff will 
consist of 12 persons. The Agency will borrow some functions of the existing State Language 
Centre, as well as execute new ones. It will analyse development of the state language, 
provide consultations, promote use of the state language, create new terminology, etc. 
After the Agency is created, the State Language Centre will maintain control functions only.



Language splits patients and doctors

The NGO Patients' Rights Office of Latvia conducted a survey about patients' problems. 
As a result, the Office has elaborated the recommendation for medical establishments to issue 
written recommendations/prescriptions for patients in Russian, if necessary, as many patients 
do not speak Latvian at the level needed for understanding of medical documentation. Heads of 
medical establishments criticised the idea, as problems in relations with the State Language 
Centre could appear. Besides, they claim it would be too expensive to translate documents.

As lawyer of the Office Solvita Olsena points out, if a tragedy happens because of misunderstood 
document, the application to the European Court of Human Rights could be submitted. She also 
believes that legislative provision on the language of medical documentation is to be included 
into the draft law on patients' rights ("Chas" ("The Hour"), March 26).



MP: Latvia needs a strong army to get rid of occupants

Mr Aleksandrs Kirsteins, a member of the Saeima (Parliament), representing the right-wing 
oppositional People's Party, gave an interview for the radical nationalistic newspaper "DDD".
In his interview Mr Kirsteins pointed out, that the process of decolonisation and deoccupation 
of Latvia continues and has never been stopped. He also criticises the position of international 
organisations, which "doubt that children have to take responsibility for the fact that their 
parents or grandfathers occupied another country". The MP told that "the solution in the 
Latvian situation is extremely simple: the only thing we need is a strong army. In this case 
nobody will say anything about expelling of civil occupants from our country". Yet, Mr Kirsteins 
also hopes that the situation will be improved with the help of the EU. He states that the EU 
will finance repatriation, pointing out that after the accession "150,000 non-Latvians will 
leave for the EU states, 150,000 will return to Russia and others will assimilate" ("Vesti 
Segodnya" ("The News Today"), March 18).



The first Latvian Jewish Congress held

The Council of Jewish Communities was created at the first Congress of Jewish Communities of 
Latvia on March 16. 75 elected delegates from different regions of Latvia participated in the 
Congress. The Council of Jewish Communities is a confederation to unite religious and secular 
Jewish organizations with the right of every community to leave, if it is not satisfied with the 
Council's work. Head of the Riga Jewish community Arkadiy Sukharenko was elected head of 
the Council. According to him, business will not be among the tasks of the Council. Priorities 
are the following: creation of the community centre, new building for the Riga Shimon Dubnov 
Jewish School, restoration of synagogues. Main concern of the organisation will be social 
assistance for the poor, social house is to be built. Among other things, the Council will be 
engaged in distribution of financial support from individual sponsors and international 
organisations.



Experimental Roma class in Riga State Technical College

One and a half year ago, an experiment at the Riga State Technical College was initiated. 
Romani class was created to assist Latvian Roma in gaining higher education. The Ministry 
of Education and Science, Roma Community and Riga State Technical College contributed to 
the project. It was the first case in Latvian education system, when quotas for the Roma 
were set. Low level of knowledge is one of the obstacles for the Roma to receive higher 
education. According to representative of the Riga State Technical School Valentina Zakharova, 
a group of 16 students was created, which diminished to 8 now, as other 8 students left. The 
students see themselves as a good example for Latvian Roma community to study in high 
schools and receive education, thus avoiding negative stereotypes and prejudice common in 
society. There is no reason to create a system of Romani education in Latvia, director of 
the Department of Professional Education of the Ministry of Education Gunars Krusts says. 
He does not think that it is necessary to segregate such children from all the others, thus 
no Roma classes in universities are planned ("Telegraf" ("The Telegraph"), March 25).



Compiled by:

Alexei Dimitrov
Tatyana Bogushevitch
Yuri Dubrovsky


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