Elections in Latvia: the vote of Russian speakers scrutinized

Seen from a session in the Parliament of Latvia, in Riga, in August 2022. © AP/Handout/The Parliament, Saeima, of the Republic of Latvia

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1 min

The two million Latvians are voting this morning to renew their Parliament.

From the balance of power between the balance of power elected to Parliament will be born the next government coalition.

The campaign was marked by security issues.

The vote of Russian speakers, about a third of the country's population, will be scrutinized.

The war in Ukraine has shaken them.

For or against Putin, they must now choose.

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With our correspondent in Riga,

In Riga, almost half of the inhabitants speak Russian at home.

A legacy of the Soviet period when Moscow sought to Russify the country by sending labor.

These Russian speakers have long lived in their bubble.

Lolita Cigane, one of the candidates from the Prime Minister's party remarks that the conflict has changed everything.

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During the first months of the war, young Russian speakers from Riga came to protest against the war and the policies of Vladimir Putin at the foot of the monument to freedom.

The family of Alexei, a young electrician, is like many divided families in Latvia.

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If Russian speakers are going to vote, who will they give their vote to?

The Harmonie party which represented them sided with Ukraine.

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," analyzes Arnis Kaktins, director of a polling institute.

The Union of Russians, which follows a pro-Putin line, could perhaps once again enter Parliament.

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