Minority issues in Latvia, No. 44

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Minority issues in Latvia, No. 44


Minority issues in Latvia, No. 44

Prepared by the Latvian Human Rights Committee (F.I.D.H.)
February 16, 2002

Content:

- The OSCE Mission to Latvia finishes its projects
- The President's "language initiatives" – a lull before a storm?
- The Commission on the State Language: "old story" repeated 
- Latvian citizenship on sale? 
- "Diena": Money makes the integration go slow
- Minority schoolchildren choose the Russian language of instruction
- The language issue mars the schoolchildren competition on physics 
- Linguistic protectionism vs fair competition in taxation policies 
- Conference on the role of minority cultural associations in the
cultural integration 


The OSCE Mission to Latvia finishes its projects
-------------------------------------------------

The OSCE Mission to Latvia is officially closed since January 1 (see
Minority issues in Latvia, No. 41,
http://racoon.riga.lv/minelres/archive//01042002-12:02:29-13464.html).
The farewell reception was held by the last Head of the Mission Peter
Semneby on February 7 (Mr Semneby works now as the Head of the OSCE
Mission to Croatia). A few local newspapers published interviews with
Mr Semneby on this occasion.

Mr Semneby points out that Latvia had achieved considerable progress
since the creation of the mission, in particular, set up a judicial
basis for naturalisation. However, hard work still to be done to
stabilise achievements and to progress further. When questioned on the
impact of the strengthening of Latvian language vs minority languages,
Semneby noted, that one should promote the idea of
free-will teaching of Latvian language, not to use penalties. However,
he said, it is difficult to find a proper balance here. Peter Semneby
had neither accepted, nor disapproved the view that the process of
naturalisation has slowed down. In his view, it is premature to
evaluate the ongoing process now, it is the most important to create
conditions for people willing to obtain Latvian citizenship, to show,
that the state is waiting for them. If such conditions exist, the
latter is the person's choice. Mr Semneby noted positive steps towards
creating such conditions: lowering the state fee for naturalisation,
equalling graduate school exams in the Latvian language with the
naturalisation tests, as well as promotion of naturalisation through
mass media ("Neatkariga Rita Avize" ("The Independent Morning
Newspaper"), February 7). 

Mr Semneby said, that one should not be afraid of the main parties'
disagreement with the President's "language proposal" (see Minority
Issues in Latvia, Nos 40-43), calling these discussions "one of the
features of a democratic society". Mr Semneby reminded that the same
happened when amendments to both the Citizenship Law and the State
Language Law were discussed. "As experience showed, nothing horrible
happened in the country after adoption of these amendments" ("Panorama
Latvii" ("The Panorama of Latvia"), February 7). 

When asked on motivation of the UK, France, Germany and Canada being
against the closure of the mission at the OSCE December summit, Mr
Semneby said, "the most important thing is not who was for or against,
but what Latvia does". He stressed the importance of the President's
proposals once more.

Meeting the Prime Minister Andris Berzinsh on February 6, Peter
Semneby expressed his hopes that the problems of naturalization and
teaching of Latvian language will remain priorities for Latvia's
government (BNS, February 7,
http://rus.delfi.lv/archive/index.php?id=2625259 ). Mr Semneby also
hopes that the problem of amendments to the election laws will be
resolved successfully, and Latvia will benefit from it. Andris
Berzinsh promised to further cooperate with the OSCE High Commissioner
on National Minorities on these issues. 

As Mr. Semneby told in his interview to our newsletter on February 8,
some projects launched by the OSCE Mission are still not completed.
The awareness campaign on naturalization was mentioned as the biggest
project that is about to be finished and evaluated. Also, the survey
aiming at exploring the public attitudes towards the bilingual
education is to be completed by the end of April. Besides, two smaller
publication projects are coming to an end with only technical issues
left.

Our commentary

Closing of the OSCE mission to Latvia is often used now both in
internal debates and on international arena as a proof that all
problems related to minorities have been completely resolved in
Latvia, and nothing is left to be done in this respect. Thus, the
removal of the mission might entail not only slowing down the progress
but even reversal of the positive trends, particularly in the heated
pre-election atmosphere. This is why it is so important to keep in
mind that the OSCE recognised the substantial progress (on what very
few politicians and experts cast doubts), but does expect further
efforts on the part of the Latvian authorities to streamline relevant
legislation and to improve practices. 

In our view, the results of the survey on the attitudes towards the
education reform are of particular significance for national
minorities in Latvia. We wrote repeatedly about elimination of the
state-supported secondary education in minority languages scheduled
for 2004 being the most painful and potentially explosive issue now.
Unfortunately, the OSCE Mission never expressed its attitude towards
this planned reform, despite it clearly runs contrary to the Hague
recommendations regarding the education rights of national minorities,
elaborated under the auspices of the OSCE (
http://www.osce.org/hcnm/documents/recommendations/hague/index.php3 ).


The President's "language initiatives" – a lull before a storm?
---------------------------------------------------------------

Upon return in Latvia from her visit to the USA, the President Vaira
Vike–Freiberga told the media on February 12 that Latvia could lose
the opportunity to join NATO, if the election legislation is not
amended. The President mentioned that the USA do understand the
difficult Latvia's history, but hope that Latvia is able to cope with
it. The President also declared that now it was time for the ruling
coalition to show its initiative. "I have done enough. Now I will be
waiting for their reaction and proposals... The Saeima, government and
the parties of the coalition must take responsibility." ("Latvijas
Vestnesis" ("The Latvian Herald"), February 13).

On February 15, the parties of the ruling coalition made public their
proposals for strengthening the status of the state language in the
Constitution (as a possible "compensation" for the amendments in the
election legislation). 

The radical nationalistic "For Fatherland and Freedom" suggests to
declare explicitly that the sole working language in the Saeima and
local governments is Latvian. The party also considers necessary to
stipulate that only the citizens of Latvia can elect local governments
(ironically, on February 18 the Cabinet of Ministers is to discuss
nascent amendments to the election legislation to introduce the right
to elect local governments for the EU citizens in Latvia, after Latvia
joins the European Union). "The Latvian Way" party suggests a special
oath for MPs, in which MPs swear "to defend Latvia's state language".
The People’s Party supports the same idea. The latter party also
discusses the idea to establish that the State Language Law can be
amended only in the same way as the Constitution
(the news agency BNS, February 15).

At the same time the Deputy Chairman of the Saeima Rihards Piks (the
People's Party) upon return from his own visit to the USA some days
before the President, spoke out strongly for the adoption of the
amendments to the elections laws - although his party had declared
that it was against them. Mr Piks' opinion changed totally after the
visit. "Nobody in the USA can understand, why we need an additional
provision in the Election Law, if the status of the state language is
already determined in the Constitution and other laws... The USA know
about this problem for a long time and ask Latvia to make its
homework", Mr Piks said ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today"), February
6,
http://www.cm.lv/index.php3?br=$br&g=2002&m=02&d=06&w1=&w2=p&pub=002#banner
).

"Lauku Avize" ("The Rural Newspaper") asked the representatives of the
Saeima's factions about their conclusions on this problem.
V.Muizniece, chairwoman of the People's party faction, said that her
faction "cannot accept the President's proposal now... After the
status of the state language has been strengthened in the
Constitution, and other laws have been amended, we could, perhaps,
come back to the abolition of the state language requirements in the
election law". G.Krasts ("For Fatherland and Freedom") supports
strengthening the status of the state language but rules out any
possibility that his party might support the amendments in the
election law, since the party's congress has taken an official
decision on this issue. K.Leshkalns ("The Latvian Way") believes that
the President "should stop just talking about this problem", instead
she should officially submit the corresponding bill on her own, and in
this case his party "will consider it". Leader of the breakaway
Social-Democratic Union faction E.Baldzens excludes any possible
support for the President's initiative by his party. B.Tsilevish ("For
Human Rights in United Latvia") reminded that his party already
submitted the draft amendments to the election laws in October 2001
(declined then by the majority), and now the parties of the ruling
coalition should take initiative and to demonstrate who was right and
who was wrong in this debate. Besides, in Mr Tsilevich's view, it is
sad that the President completely changed her way of reasoning - while
initially she spoke about the necessity to implement the democratic
principles and human rights, now she mentions only the demands of the
NATO as the only reason why the election laws should be changed. "Our
colleagues should think why NATO demands these amednments", Mr
Tsilevich said, "not NATO but we ourselves need them" ("Lauku Avize"
("The Rural Newspaper"), 14 February 2002).

Our commentary

Indeed, as we mentioned in the previous issue of our newsletter,
Latvia's accession to NATO has become the sole reason for the
abolition of the state language requirements. In a sense, the USA took
responsibility when insisting on closing of the OSCE mission to
Latvia, contrary to the objections of a number of the European states,
and now must keep its promises. Some weeks ago Janis Jurkans, leader
of the pro-minority faction "For Human Rights in United Latvia", said
his opponents on TV live discussion, "you will be called to Washington
soon, your brains will be cleaned, and you will sing a totally
different song then". Janis Lagzdinsh (the People's Party) strongly
rejected such a possibility ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today"),
February 6,
http://www.cm.lv/index.php3?br=$br&g=2002&m=02&d=06&w1=&w2=p&pub=002#banner
).
However, it seems that Mr Jurkans' forecast is coming true.

In our view, such a situation will be repeated as long as the
politicians of the ruling parties declare, "it is the last requirement
of international organisations, it is the last our concession", every
time when speaking about the next recommendation in the field of
minority rights. This is an unfortunate pattern of political rhetoric.
Inevitably, the same problem will appear again when other flaws of
Latvian minority legislation will be raised internationally more
actively - such as the legislative prohibition to establish private
radio-stations and TV-channels in minority languages (see the
corresponding law at
http://www.riga.lv/minelres/NationalLegislation/Latvia/Latvia_TVRadio_excerpts_English.htm
, Art.19) or discrimination of minority private schools in access to
budgetary subsidies (
http://www.riga.lv/minelres/NationalLegislation/Latvia/Latvia_Education_excerpts_English.htm
, Art.59).


The Commission on the State Language: "old story" repeated
----------------------------------------------------------

Chairwoman of the recently established Commission on the State
Language (see Minority issues in Latvia, No. 43,
http://racoon.riga.lv/minelres/archive//02052002-09:04:27-1978.html)
Mara Zalite presented the Commission's tasks and composition in the
article "Komisija starp valsti un valodu" ("The commission between the
state and the language") at the portal of public politics politika.lv
( http://www.politika.lv/index.php?id=102423&lang=lv ). Mrs Zalite
asserts that the model of bilingual state is not acceptable for
Latvia, taking into account its geopolitical and etnnodemographic
situation. "It is mentioned in the society integration concept that
the loyalty towards the Latvia's state is the basis for integration,
but, unfortunately, the sense of loyalty is not consummate for a part
of the Russian–speaking residents”, Mrs Zalite writes.

Six sub-commissions are to be established within the Commission: on
legal affairs; on education; on language research and development; on
international experience; on computer linguistics; and for the work
with society.

The article caused harsh criticism in the Russian-language media.
Leading columnist of "Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today") N.Kabanov
notes that Mrs Zalite mentions the "sustainability of the Russian
language in Latvia" as the main problem, and that in fact the
Commission's efforts will be aimed at undermining the position of the
Russian language rather than the promotion of Latvian. N.Kabanov
suggests to re-name the Commission to "the Commission on prohibition
of the Russian language". The journalist stresses concerns expressed
by Mrs Zalite about "different understanding of historical processes"
and points out that the freedom of expression and opinions is an
inalienable feature of a democratic society ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The
News Today"), February 13,
http://www.cm.lv/index.php3?br=$br&g=2002&m=02&d=13&w1=r&r=1&w2=p&pub=010#banner
).
  
Our commentary

In our view, the start of the Commission's activities is not very
encouraging. Unfortunately, mostly people known for their
conservative, hard-line position on the language issue have been
invited to the Commission, while a number of supporters of more
liberal, inclusive and minority rights based approach were ignored
(e.g. the leadership of the National Programme of Latvian Language
Training). It is revealing that the sub-commission on legal affairs
will be headed by Dz.Hirsha, director of the State Language Centre,
who is not a lawyer at all. 

The general tone and spirit of Mrs Zalite's article is typical for
numerous media publications in late 80s, before the restoration of the
independence of Latvia. Indeed, it seems that the Commission in its
activities does not wish to see huge changes occurred in Latvia within
last years, and pursues obsolete, alarmist and counter-productive
strategy, considering the language situation in Latvia exclusively
within the context of "the Russian dominanation" and "imperialistic
psychology of the Russian-speakers". One cannot but get an impression
that the Commission strongly intends to concentrate on punitive and
prohibitive measures, instead of impartial analysis of successes and
failures of the language policies implemented so far, and measures
aimed at improving its efficiency and compliance with the the
standards of democracy and human rights.  


Latvian citizenship on sale?
----------------------------

On February 5, Head of the Naturalisation Board E.Aldermane was called
to the parliamentary Citizenship Committee. She was asked to provide
data about the current information campaign on naturalisation. This
campaign is financed by foreign governments, the total sum of the
provided financial aid is Ls 145,000 (approx. USD 230,000). Radical
nationalistic MPs harshly attacked the Naturalisation Board, because
the campaign is being held also in the Russian language. According to
the data provided by Mrs Aldermane, this campaign can be considered
successful – the number of non-citizens interested in naturalisation
has grown up for 20% since its start ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News
Today"), February 6,
http://www.cm.lv/index.php3?br=$br&g=2002&m=02&d=06&w1=r&r=2&w2=p&pub=005#banner
).

However, the next day new developments related to naturalisation
overshadowed this "low-profile conflict". On February 6, six persons
were detained by the Constitution Defence Bureau (CDB, leading
intelligence service of Latvia) for alleged abuses and corruption in
the course of the naturalisation. Two of them are officials of the
Naturalisation Board, and one was formerly employed there.

Head of the Board E.Aldermane said at the TV talk-show "Musu cilveks"
("Our person") on February 7, that a one week long internal
investigation will be held in the Board. She told that the suspects
"have illegally helped some of the candidates to pass the language
examination for receiving the Latvian citizenship"  (
http://159.148.60.9/video/R20020211tvp.asx ). Allegedely, the persons
wishing to obtain Latvian citizenship illegally passed bribes to the
members of the language examination commission through mediation of
some private company.  

The radical nationalistic party "For Fatherland and Freedom" demanded
that the Prime Minister A.Berzinsh suspends Mrs Aldermane in her
position until the investigation is accomplished. In response, Mr
Berzinsh asked not to start "witch hunting". Head of CDB A.Kamaldinsh
told in the news that "one cannot speak about the huge numbers of
corrupted bureaucrats in the staff of the Board". The Citizenship
Committee of Saeima asked the General Prosecutor Office and other
institutions to examine all cases of granting Latvian citizenship in
the recent past

On February 12, following the request of the Naturalisation Board, the
Cabinet of Ministers postponed approval of the next list of the
naturalised citizens for unspecified period - until the investigation
produces results ("Telegraf" ("The Telegraf"), February 13,
http://rus.delfi.lv/archive/index.php?id=2666974 ). In the meantime,
the Board will keep working, but the government will temporarily
suspend approval of the new citizens' lists. Press Secretary of the
Board Jolanta Valevicha told "Telegraf" that they "want the blue
passports to be received fairly".

Our commentary

The Naturalisation Board enjoys a well-deserved reputation of "the
most European" and client-friendly institution in Latvia. Since its
establishment, practically no complaints have been ever received by
state institutions or NGOs about its work. Meanwhile, the declared
state policy of promoting naturalisation is under permanent political
pressure of influential nationalistic parties. However, this policy
cannot be easily changed, for encouraging speedy naturalisation
remains one of the main conditions for the EU accession.   

Of course, we do appreciate fighting bribery and corruption in any
field and under any circumstances. Allegations about the large-scale
and widespread corruption in Latvia are well-known. It might be merely
a coincidance that the abuses have been uncovered exactly in the best
functioning state institution, not in e.g. the Customs or State
Revenue offices, obviously much more vulnerable for corruption. It
might be also incidental that the naturalisation has been temporarily
suspended 7 months before the parliamentary elections, while the
popularity of the ruling parties is not very high, and the majority of
the naturalised citizens would probably vote for the opposition. In
any event, we hope that the investigation will be completed as soon as
possible, and that the Naturalisation Board, after having got rid of
the currupted officials, will soon renew its work in accordance with
its well established traditions of diligence and tolerance. We also
hope that the position of the head of the Naturalisation Board will
not become an object for pre-election bargaining.


"Diena": Money makes integration go slow
---------------------------------------

The leading Latvian-language newspaper "Diena" ("The Day") has
published the article on distribution of the allocated funds by the
Society Integration Foundation (SIF) ("Diena" ("The Day"), February
4). The newspaper claims that the way the SIF allocates money is
disappointing for the integration experts and makes one think that
some projects are lobbied through by some members of the SIF Board
(see Minority issues in Latvia, No. 41,
http://racoon.riga.lv/minelres/archive//01042002-12:02:29-13464.html
). This could seriously damage the credibility of the Foundation in
the eyes of foreign investors.

One more factor that might cause incomprehension is that the
distribution of funds took place with no experts involved. Among the
major projects supported are those destined for the people with
special needs thus leaving the problem of ethnic integration with a
little way off.

The SIF Board declared that this year 50% of the funds would be
allocated to the ethnic integration, 30% - social and 20% to the
regional integration.


Minority schoolchildren choose the Russian language of instruction
------------------------------------------------------------------

Some Latvian politicians (e.g. Head of the Parliamentary Commission on
Education Dz.Abikis) claim that the Russian-speaking parents more and
more often send their children to schools with the Latvian language of
instruction. G.Kotov, co-chairman of the Latvian Human Rights
Committee and member of the Riga City Council, argues against this
claim on the basis of the statistical data about the schools of Riga
("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today"), 15 February,
http://www.cm.lv/index.php3?br=$br&g=2002&m=02&d=15&w1=r&r=5&w2=p&pub=026#banner
). 

In this year, 46,426 children attend the Latvian-language schools,
53,000 - the Russian-language schools, and 890 - schools with other
minority languages of instruction. The number of schoolchildren
steadily decreases both in schools with the Latvian and Russian
language of instruction, however, it drops faster in the
Russian-language schools. Mr Kotov explains this with high
in-migration to the capital city Riga from (predominantly ethnically
Latvian) countryside, as well as with higher birthrate of ethnic
Latvians. 

In this year, 121 children from ethnically Russian families began
their studies in the first grade of the Latvian-language schools,
while 2,205 ethnic Russian children chose the Russian-language
schools. For ethnic Ukrainians the corresponding data are 6 vs 138,
ethnic Belarusians 10 vs 130, ethnic Poles 14 vs 50, Lithuanians 18 vs
25, Jews 1 vs 32, other minorities 7 vs 68. Out of all minorities,
only children from the Roma families prefer schools with the Latvian
language of instruction. The number of pupils in the schools with
other minority languages of instruction steadily grows: from 681 two
years ago to 847 last year to 890 in this year. 

Ethnic Russians make up 3.65% among all students in the schools with
the Latvian language of instruction, while ethnic Latvians - 10.65% in
the schools with the Russian language of instruction. 

These data clearly demonstrate the willingness of the persons
belonging to minorities to learn in their mothertongue, the
"sufficient demand" in terms of the Framework Convention, and the
government must take this into account, Mr Kotov concludes.


The language issue mars the schoolchildren competition on physics 
------------------------------------------------------------------

On February 5, the physics teachers of the Russian-language schools
held a press conference devoted to organization of the municipal
olympiads (schoolchildren competition) on physics held on January 25.
All the tasks were given in Latvian, and the teachers were not allowed
to translate them for the pupils, contrary to the rules applied in the
previous years. Only use of technical dictionaries was permitted.
Thus, the students of the Russian-language schools where physics is
taught in Russian, found themselves in unequal conditions competing
with those whose mothertongue was Latvian, as the former had no time
to translate the specific terminology - 40 minutes were given for 20
tasks ("Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today"), February 6,
http://www.cm.lv/index.php3?br=$br&g=2002&m=02&d=06&w1=r&r=1&w2=p&pub=012#banner
).
 
The official of the Ministry of Education confine himself to the
following comment, "This only proves that the children have problems
with the Latvian language and it is better to clarify it today"
("Panorama Latvii" ("The Panorama of Latvia"), February 7).

I.Nezhivaja, a physics teacher, points out that the Russian-language
schools are often excluded even when reporting about the situation
with education in Latvia. "We were told that in 2000 only 4 persons
have passed the state exams on physics, though there were at least 12
pupils only from our school. But as the things turned out only the
Latvian-language schools were taken into consideration”, tells Mrs
Nezhivaja.


Linguistic protectionism vs fair competition in taxation policies 
------------------------------------------------------------------

"Vesti Segodnya" ("The News Today") on 13 February reported about the
next case when the protectionist (or discriminatory on the basis of
language?) taxation rules are applied. The Latvian Law on VAT (value
added tax) stipulates that the publications of original literary works
in the Latvian language are exempted from VAT, while original books
published in the minority languages are subject to 18% VAT (art.6,
para.20 of the Law on VAT). This provision is applicable also to the
literature for children published in Latvia, on the basis of the list
approved by the Ministry of Education (
http://www.cm.lv/index.php3?br=$br&g=2002&m=02&d=13&w1=i&w2=p&pub=021#banner
).  

Our commentary

On one hand, the tax exemption mentioned above can be considered a
promotional measure aimed at creating more favorable conditions for
the original publications in Latvian. On the other hand, this
provision might be considered discriminatory in respect of the writers
belonging to minorities, as well as to the publishers who wish to
publish the original literature created in Latvia in minority
languages, thus creating conditions for unequal competition. We are
highly interested in any comments on this issue.


Conference on the role of minority cultural associations in the
---------------------------------------------------------------
cultural integration 
---------------------

The conference on the role of minority cultural associations in the
cultural integration, held in Riga on 15 February, was organised by
the Society Integration Foundation and opened by the Minister of
Justice I.Labucka. Representatives of over 30 minority cultural
organisations, as well as experts, state officials and politicians
took part in the meeting. 

The list of speakers included Prof. L.Dribins, V.Virtmane (director of
the Department of Cultural Policies, Latvian Ministry of Culture),
I.Vinnik (program director, Latvian Public TV), R.Haradzanjan
(chairman of the Latvian Association of Ethnic Cultural Societies),
V.Polishchuk (Ventspils city Association of Ethnic Cultural
Societies). 

Although for most of invited participants Latvian was not their
mothertongue, the conference was held only in Latvian, without
translation ("Chas" ("The Hour", 16 February,
http://www.chas-daily.com/win/2002/02/16/l_054.html ). The
participants discussed the successes and failures of the ongoing
integration process, reported about the concrete events organised by
their NGOs, as well as raised painful issues of insufficient resources
and poor coverage of their activities in media.

Our commentary

Unfortunately, the crucial issue - i.e. lack of the legislative basis
for the activities of the minority organizations - was not touched
upon by the speakers, and almost not discussed in the debates. The Law
About the Unrestricted Development and Right to Cultural Autonomy of
Latvia's Nationalities and Ethnic Groups, adopted in 1991, is
declarative and outdated (see the text at

http://www.riga.lv/minelres/NationalLegislation/Latvia/Latvia_CultAut_English.htm
). In our view, only ratification of the Framework Convention for the
Protection of National Minorities and adoption of the modern law on
national minorities could establish a clear framework for allocation
resources for minority cultural associations.   
 

----------------
Compiled by:

Alexei Dimitrov
Tatyana Bogushevitch
Yuri Dubrovsky

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