“Latvian authorities ignore UN recommendations”: a rally in defense of Russian-language education was held in Riga

In Riga, a rally in defense of education in Russian was held. A procession organized by the Russian Union of Latvia (RSL) was attended by several thousand people.

The event participants gathered at the Riga City Council building and passed through the Old City to the Latvian government building, TASS reports. The protesters held placards with the slogans “We won’t surrender our children,” “We don’t agree,” “The truth is ours,” “Our schools are for our children,” and other calls.

The head of the RSL, Tatyana Zhdanok, at the beginning of the rally, stated that the audience supported the preservation of the Russian language in Latvia as an educational one.

“We want here, in Latvia, the Russian language to continue, so that it is the language of education. We have the right to do so. Or if there is another way out, then this is only Latvia's way out of all international organizations, where it has committed itself to respect the rights of national minorities, ”her words quoted Sputnik Latvia.

As one of the rally organizers, co-chair of the Russian Union of Latvia Miroslav Mitrofanov, said in an interview with RT, over the past 30 years, the Latvian authorities have made persistent and consistent attempts to completely “squeeze out” the Russian language from different spheres of life in the Republic of Latvia.

“At first it was the elimination of Russian flows in universities, then there was a partial transition to education in Latvian in Russian schools. Thanks to our protests, some compromises were achieved 15-17 years ago, ”the source said.

Later, according to Mitrofanov, there was a “lull” and several successful attempts to reverse the tendency. In particular, he mentioned the liberalization of the law on the state language, under which the private sector was removed from state control, said the representative of the RSL.

However, according to him, four years ago it was decided to fully translate secondary education into Latvian and increase the proportion of the use of the state language at the level of primary, primary school and kindergartens.

It should be noted that on September 23, the parties of the ruling coalition of Latvia supported the initiative to oblige all local governments to ensure that each municipal preschool institution has the opportunity to study in Latvian.

“The coalition parties supported this proposal. The corresponding plan should be developed by the Ministry of Education and Science, ”RIA Novosti quotes a statement by Raivis Zeltitsa, representative of the Vse-Latvia party, who made the corresponding proposal.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern about these measures. The official representative of the department Maria Zakharova mentioned this on October 3 during a briefing.

“Obviously, the initiative is pronounced discriminatory and its ultimate goal is the forced assimilation of the Russian-speaking population,” she said.

It should be noted that in Latvia, the official language is Latvian, but for about 40%, Russian is the mother tongue. Despite this circumstance, the Russian language in the republic has the status of a foreign language.

Mitrofanov continued that the goal of the state is to abandon the use of the Russian language.

“The main tool is the domestic political process”

The representative of the RSL claims that in addition to holding protests, supporters of the use of the Russian language in Latvia turn to international organizations, in particular, the UN Committee on Prevention of Discrimination.

“There, the attitude is quite positive. The UN documents, the recommendations that come, are very progressive. But another question is that the Latvian authorities ignore them. We appeal to the domestic courts and to the international human rights court in Strasbourg, ”Mitrofanov said. He also mentioned that more than 117 members of the European Parliament had previously signed a general appeal to the Latvian authorities to preserve their education in Russian.

“The main tool is the domestic political process, in particular, our protest activity in the streets and activity in all authorities,” he concluded.

Commenting on the situation in which the Russian-speaking population of Latvia found itself, the director of the Institute of Contemporary State Development Dmitry Solonnikov emphasized that the problem of Russian-speaking schools in the Baltic region as a whole and Latvia in particular has existed for a long time.

“The Baltic states as a whole have a policy of eliminating the Russian language as the language used in everyday communication, office work ... This is done both at the legislative and everyday levels. Politics has been going on for quite some time. Yes, sometimes the cup of patience is full and people go out to public events, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

However, according to the expert, Russian protests may mean nothing to the managers of politicians.

“The Russian-speaking population is denied the right to vote. This action is important for uniting the Russian communities to demonstrate the consolidated opinion of the Russian communities, ”the expert summed up.