Latvia rejects making Russian an official language

[Loki]

Latvia rejects making Russian an official language

Latvians have resoundingly rejected the option of making Russian the country's second official language, results from a referendum indicate.

About two-thirds of those registered voted, the election commission said, many more than in previous polls.

The referendum, initiated by a Russian speakers' movement, has exposed deep fault-lines in Latvia.

Ethnic Russians, who make up about one-third of Latvia's population, have long complained of discrimination.

But many ethnic Latvians believe the referendum was an attempt to encroach on the country's independence.

It was initiated by the Russian-speakers' movement, Native Tongue, which collected signatures from more than 10% of voters to force a ballot.

Officials said that with more than 90% of votes counted, 75% of votes cast in Saturday's referendum were against the proposal.

Turnout was about 69%, which officials say was considerably higher than expected.

'Absurd' referendum

Learning Latvian was a prerequisite for citizenship in the years after the country split from the Soviet Union two decades ago

But many Russian-speakers resisted, and some 300,000 remain without citizenship, which means they cannot vote in elections, hold public office or work in government institutions, the Associated Press reports.

"I think that over the past 20 years Russian residents of Latvia have been humiliated by authorities, by endless attempts either to assimilate or make them second-class citizens," Vladimir Linderman, co-chairman of Native Tongue, told AP. "So this is our answer."

The referendum has been described as "absurd" by Latvian President Andris Berzins, who said most people were more concerned with the country's recovery from a severe recession.

He pointed out that the government funds own-language schools for minority groups such as Russians.

"There's no need for a second language. Whoever wants, can use their language at home or in school," he said.

Latvia gained independence from Moscow in 1991 after half-a-century of Soviet rule. It joined the European Union in 2004.

[Loki]

This is discrimination.

[Wolf]

This is discrimination.

Why?

[Loki]

Why?

Because a large percentage of Lithuanians speak Russian as first language.

[Grace O'Malley]

Well good on them. Way to go Latvia. It is good to see a little country stand up to a big neighbour. You do everything to keep your language and identify intact Latvia. All of us should be supporting Latvia and getting right behind them.

[portusaus]

Nice

[Yaroslav]

Russia should invade to protect the occupied and oppressed Russians in the Baltics and elsewhere..

[Cail]

This is discrimination.

This is democracy.

I'm a well-known russophile, but this is the right decision. Immigrants need to assimilate, doesn't matter if they are 2nd or 3rd generation (even more so actually).

And for fuck's sake, how hard is it to learn the language of a country where you've been living for at least 25 years (most were actually born there). On top of that, Latvian is not hard to learn for a Russian-speaking person at all. It's not like it's Chinese or even German. Even stupid uneducated Turkish kebab-mongers start speaking some German after a few years in Germany. Russians are just unwilling to even try, because of some stupid notion that it is "beneath them".

[Incal]

If you want to speak Russian go to Russia.

[RussiaPrussia]

If you want to speak Russian go to Russia.

so french in belgium should immigrate to france too?