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U.S. English Foundation Research LATVIA
Language Research5. Costs: What does it cost in terms of money, time and government resources to police the country's language restrictions? The Russian community in Latvia complained that the Latvian State had not spent a single Santim (the Latvian monetary unit) in aid for the development of State Language skills for adult representatives of the minorities. No teachers are trained to teach the language and literature of the ethnic minority groups. In December 1996 the Ministry of Education set a deadline, September 1, 1998 for all Russian-speaking teachers to prove their knowledge of the Latvian language. But protests held in June by teaching staff from Russian language schools led to the deadline being extended to the end of the year. The UN set up a Latvian language program to assist teachers in meeting the deadline and it was claimed that only 443 out of 14,146 of them failed either to pass the test or to comply with the requirements. By the end of the year 3% of Russian teachers faced the prospect of losing their jobs for not being able to teach in the Latvian language. Updated (February 2000) TEACHERS The first Language Law, which took effect in May 1992, contained a provision, which required all employees of both state and private sector to have a command in Latvian language “at the level necessary to carry out their duties.” Three levels of the state language proficiency were established by the governmental regulations: the first level represented some basic knowledge, the second level meant certain fluency in spoken and written language, and the third level was close to perfect knowledge. All ministries and departments were to elaborate detailed lists to determine which level corresponded to job in certain area. The state language proficiency was certified by the attestation certificate issued by the State Attestation Commission upon the results of the test. All graduates from schools with language of instruction other than Latvian were subject to the state language test. Initially, the Ministry of Education demanded that all teachers including those working in the minority schools must have at least second level of proficiency, while school directors and their deputies were required the highest level. Those teachers who failed to pass the test left Russian-language schools in 1992-1994. However, in December 1996, the Ministry of Education and Science issued a decree, which obliged all teachers to have the third level of the state language command. Those who failed to meet that requirement were to be fired after September 1, 1998 for “lack of professional capacities.” This decree caused numerous protests among teachers themselves, Russian and Human Rights NGOs, and parents who were concerned with possible deterioration of educational quality for their children if experienced teachers would have been fired. The Ministers holding the position after 1996 promised to look for a compromise solution, however, the decree was not suspended. In September 1998, the Ministry of Education and Science announced that the date of the decree's entry into force will be postponed in several towns (eg Daugavpils), and will not be implemented before the end of 1998. On January 13, 1999, Russian-language newspaper “Bizness & Baltija” reported that the Ministry of Education dismissed 85 teachers (of them 31 in the capital Riga) who failed to obtain required state language certificates by the end of 1998. More 57 teachers were allowed to pass the test before the end of 1999, and 14 kept their jobs “conditionally.” Mainstream Latvian-language daily “Diena” on January 15 reported that the number of fired minority schools teachers was 88, and 53 were allowed to pass the language test before June 1, 1999. Guntis Vasilevskis, head of the General Education Department of the Ministry, said to “Diena” that teachers will be fired only in areas where there is “sufficient offer at the labor market,” thus they can be replaced. Updated (September 2001) The National Program for Latvian Language Training, an ambitious, multi-year effort to assist minorities to study Latvian, was initially funded almost solely by foreign donors such as the United Nations Development Program, the European Union and bilateral partners. In 2001 it was brought under the Ministry of Education and the government itself began active funding of the program, allocating LVL 428,000 (~USD 680,000). Updated (May 2002) FREE LANGUAGE COURSES Last year 2,000 non-citizens, who did not speak the Latvian language, had a possibility to attend language courses free of charge through a Fast-Track Language Training Program aimed at preparing non-citizens to pass the language test for naturalization. The program was financed by the governments of the USA, Sweden and Norway (approx. $216,000). The Board has also established a telephone line, where everyone can receive all necessary information on the naturalization free of charge (the newspaper “Vesti Segodnya” (The News Today). TRANSLATING ALL DOCUMENTS OF CRIMINAL CASES INTO LATVIAN According to the Code of Criminal Procedure every witness, victim or the accused can testify in his/her native language in criminal case. However, the State Language Law provides that all documents must be submitted to court or the Prosecutor's Office in the state language. In 2000 and 2001, the police did not have specific a budget for translations. Thus, in fact a lot of documents were in the Russian language but judges and prosecutors understood them. On December 14, 2001 the Ministry of Interior proposed to the Cabinet of Ministers to submit amendments to the State Language Law with the aim to allow the police and border guards to send the evidence/testimonies without translation to the Prosecutor's Office or to court up to January 1, 2004. Otherwise, the police will need approximately 1,620,000 Lats (USD 2,613,000) for translation in 2002. The Cabinet discussed the problem on December 18, 2001. The Coalition Council (an unofficial political body created by leaders of the ruling coalition parties) pointed out that the police could raise the problem when the state budget for the year 2002 was being elaborated. The lack of finance is not a reason for changing the State Language Law. Therefore, the police will have to pay for translation of all documents of criminal matters into Latvian (the newspaper “Telegraf”). THE FUNDS ALLOCATED TO THE ROMA ASSOCIATION The Latvian-language daily “Diena” (The Day) on December 6, 2001 published an article devoted to the funding of the Roma association in Latvia. In the year 2002, the Latvian Roma National Cultural Association (LRNCA) expects a subsidy of 45,000 Lats (approx. USD 73,000) from the state budget. In the previous year, the same association received 15,000 Lats. Other 200 cultural associations of national minorities altogether have been granted only 14,500 Lats per year. Regardless of the state generosity towards the Roma minority, it is not clear whether this financial aid meets the needs of the Latvian Roma. The LRNCA has never submitted any financial report to the Ministry of Justice. According to the president of the Association Normunds Rudevichs, the funds have been spent to prepare the basis for opening ten regional Roma information centers next year. Still, representatives of the Roma communities in regions expressed their dissatisfaction with the way of using the budgetary subsidy, as their regional associations have never received any financial aid from the LRNCA. FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR THE STATE LANGUAGE POLICY On April 22, 2002 the radical nationalistic party “For Fatherland and Freedom” circulated its statement demanding additional financial support for the state language policy. The party asked its partners from the ruling coalition to support activities proposed by the Commission on the State Language and its chairperson Mara Zalite (“Chas” (The Hour), April 23, http://www.chas-daily.com/win/2002/04/23/l_041.html). The proposals were sent to four different ministries for evaluation. On April 24, Ms. Zalite informed that activities for the protection of the state language will cost Ls 275,000 (approx. EUR 486,725) (“Chas”), April 25, http://www.chas-daily.com/win/2002/04/25/l_032.html). Updated (June 2002) The International Foundation of Civic Freedoms established by the famous Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky is planning to allot about USD 100,000 to support the development of the Russian culture and language in Latvia. The new projects of the Foundation foresee covering the state naturalization fees, the creation of a psychological aid service in Russian, and support to Russian pensioners who want to emigrate to Russia. (Integration and Minority Information Service, June 3, 2002) Updated (July 2002) The Integration Foundation has planned to allot LVL 26,000 for publications on social integration issues in the Latvian mass media. Journalists are expected to write articles about these issues. Media experts; however, warn that when a state institution provides funding to media, it can endanger objectivity of the publicists. The supporters argue that allocation of funding for media does not mean purchasing media. The Foundation only supports the activities of media in the field of social integration. (Diena) Updated (August 2002) THE NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR LATVIAN LANGUAGE TRAINING The Cabinet of Ministers approved the National Program for Latvian Language Training (NPLLT) in late 1995 (see Update September 2001). The overall objective of the Program is to promote Latvian language learning. The Program focuses on teaching Latvian to minority schools' teachers to enable them to teach minority pupils in the state language. Other objectives are to teach Latvian to adults, develop language study materials for non-Latvians, elaborate examination standards and promote Latvian in the media. By early 2000, 10,367 teachers and 6,902 other adults (police, medical, railway workers and others) had participated in the courses. For the period 1999/2000, the Program envisioned preparing teaching materials for about 12,000 minority schoolteachers. The Program's budget of approximately $US 23.9 million was funded by foreign donors, with a gradually increasing domestic share. A large portion of EU funds (500,000 yearly from 1997 to 2001) went to finance the NPLLT projects. In 2001, the Latvian government became an active funder of the Program, allocating LATS 428,000. The language training offered by the NPLLT is focused primarily on teachers in minority schools and is not available to minority adults in general. Source: http://www.eumap.org/reports/content/10/428/minority_latvia.pdf, The EU Accession Monitoring Program Report on Minority Protection, Open Society Institute 2001 on http://www.eumap.org/reports/content/10 Updated (November 2002) The British government allotted £35,000 to run the Latvian language courses for applicants for naturalization. About 700 people will participate in this special program. The unemployed, people with low income and pensioners can attend courses free of charge, while others have a 50 percent discount. According to the certain sources it appears that the British government contributes more effectively to speed up the naturalization process in comparison with the Latvian government. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, November 7, 2002, Neatkariga, Vechernaya Riga, Chas, Telegraf Updated (January 2003) Nils Muiznieks, a new Special Task Minister for Societal Integration, asked government to allot LVL 646,685 for the formation and activities of the Ministry. It is planned that the Ministry will have thirty employees in three departments:
Under the supervision of Mr. Muiznieks there will also be two Advisory Councils (on society integration and on ethnic affairs), as well as a working group, which will elaborate the concept of ethnic policy. Besides, financial support is requested for informative and educational events held by the Ministry and minority related activities within the framework of other Ministries. The Minister of Finance opposed Muiznieks' request and stated that the decision was to form the post of the Minister, not the Ministry. The Prime Minister said that most probably the government would allot as little funding as possible for this Ministry. Source: Minelres News Archive; Minority issues in Latvia, No. 60, prepared by the Latvian Human Rights Committee, December 20, 2002, http://rus.delfi.lv/temp/vesti/vs_04_1025.pdf) Updated (February 2003) Government decided to allot almost LVL 422,000 for the needs of the newly established Secretariat of the Ministry for Special Assignments for Society Integration Affairs. It is planned that the Secretariat will have 21 employees. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, Diena, Neatkariga, January 14, 2003 Updated (April 2003) THE STATE LANGUAGE CENTER The State Language Center employs 14 language inspectors who check out possible violations of the State Language Law and its regulations throughout Latvia. Most of 421 fines levied by the center were imposed for not using the state language in the performance of professional duties. The second most common fine category was an insufficient use of the state language in the annotations and labeling of imported goods. Source: Human Rights in Latvia 2002 (March 2003) by the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, http://www.politika.lv/polit_real/files/lv/LCESC2002en.pdf Updated (September 2003)
Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, August and September, 2003, Lauku Avize, Telegraf, Chas Updated (October 2003) THE STATE LANGUAGE AGENCY The Committee of the Cabinet of Ministers has approved a concept of the establishment of the State Language Agency, which will be responsible for the implementation of the state language policy. The Committee decided that the Agency will be supervised by the Ministry of Education and Science. The key functions of the new body are:
Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, October 7, 2003, Lauku Avize, Chas, Vesti Segodnya Updated (November 2003) THE STATE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR 2004 The Society Integration Foundation (SIF) has distributed the state budget for the next year when around 185,000 Lats have been allocated to thirty-four projects on the Latvian language training for adults. According to the estimates, roughly 2,830 people with poor Latvian language proficiency will participate in these courses. A fee will depend on the income level of an applicant. Around 33,700 Lats have been allocated to eighteen school projects aimed to provide information on education reform. Part of the funding is also granted to the mass media. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, October 31, 2003, Diena, Telegraf Updated (May 2004) The Naturalization Board foresees that approximately 15,000 non-citizens could naturalize this year. According to the chairman of the Naturalization Board, Eizenija Aldermane, 1,900 naturalization applications were received in March, what is the largest monthly amount of naturalization applications received by the Board since the beginning of the naturalization process. LETTERS ENCOURAGED THE NATURALIZATION On May 5 and 6 approximately 150 non-citizens turned to the Naturalization Board in order to clarify the possibilities to register their children born in Latvia after August 21, 1991 as Latvian citizens. The Head of the Naturalization Board, Eizenija Aldermane, stated that the number of non-citizens interested in their children's registration has increased remarkably. She believes that it is due to the letters, which the Special Task Minister for Society Integration, Nils Muiznieks, and the Special Task Minister for Children and Family Affairs, Ainars Bastiks, sent to families with such children. The delays in registering the children had been caused by queues in front of the Board, so the authorities promised that if the heightened interest continues, they will appoint special employees to deal only with this issue. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, March 31 and May 7, 2004, Diena, Latvijas Avize and Telegraf Updated (July 2004) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION SUPPORTS SOCIETAL INTEGRATION The European Commission's External Relations Commissioner, Chris Patten, informed the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergey Lavrov, about the sum that the EC has allocated to society integration programs in Latvia and Estonia since 1996. According to the Commissioner, during the last eight years there were approximately 13,5 millions Euro allotted to these programs in Latvia. The EC plans to continue with this support also in the period from 2004 to 2006. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, May 15, 2004, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Latvijas Avize A SPECIAL INTERNET PORTAL FOR NON-LATVIAN SPEAKERS The Ventspils City Council is planning to create a special Internet portal for non-Latvian speakers, non-citizens and ethnic minorities, in order to enhance their comprehension of the impact of Latvia's accession to the European Union. Alongside information about new possibilities available for these people after Latvia's accession to the EU, the portal will feature announcements of cultural and educational events supported by the EU, and will also inform about the funds from both the Latvian state and the EU allocated for the activities aimed at integration of ethnic minorities and non-citizens. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, May 18, 2004, Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya A LETTER CAMPAIGN PROVED TO BE SUCCESSFUL The project, when 15,000 letters were sent to the parents of non-citizen children born in Latvia after August 21, 1991, in order to invite them to register these children as Latvian citizens, turned out to be very successful. In 2003, only 356 children were registered altogether, while in May and June this year as much as 354 and 290 children were registered. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, July 2, 2004, Latvijas Avize, Vesti Segodnya, Telegraf, Latvijas Vestnesis A SCREEN INSTALLED IN THE CENTER OF RIGA The Headquarters for the Defense of Russian-language Schools has installed a screen in the center of Riga, which displays the number of days remaining till September 1, 2004, when the education reform should be implemented in minorities' schools. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, July 20, 2004, Vesti Segodnya A FREE PHONE LINE PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT NATURALIZATION CLOSED DOWN For two and a half years a free phone line was providing information about possibilities to naturalize. However, this project, funded by the American Embassy, will be probably closed as of August 1, 2004 because the funding is not available any more. Although the line was quite popular, the state does not plan to allocate any money from the state budget to keep it alive. According to the newspaper, the gradual decrease of the financial support for the Naturalization Board shows that the state, in fact, is not interested in promoting naturalization. On the other hand, the Minister for Social Integration Affairs, Nils Muiznieks, argued that the state has done a lot to foster naturalization and the free information phone line was just one of many activities organized. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, July 27, 2004, Telegraf Updated (August 2004) FINANCIAL SUPPORT USED FOR LATVIAN LANGUAGE COURSES At the beginning of August the Embassy of Great Britain to Latvia allocated LVL 49,000 to the Naturalization Board, which will use the money to organize Latvian language courses in Latgale, the Eastern part of Latvia. The amount of money is sufficient to provide these courses free of charge for 700 naturalization applicants. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, August 5, 2004, Latvijas Vestnesis, Neatkariga Rita Avize, Vesti Segodnya Updated (September 2004) 160,000 LATS ALLOCATED TO OFFER LATVIAN LANGUAGE COURSES FREE OF CHARGE At the end of August, from 6 am many non-Latvians waited in a queue to apply for Latvian language courses. The Societal Integration Foundation has allocated 160,000 Lats to organize these courses free of charge for 2,700 non-Latvians. The director of the Societal Integration Foundation reported that this year the interest has increased considerably. However, he also expressed his concern about the future because it is not clear whether the state will still provide this funding. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, August 27, 2004, Diena, Telegraf MONEY FROM THE PHARE PROGRAM The Phare program allocated the sum of EUR 28,452 to the Ventspils NGO to implement the ethnic integration project called "I, You, We — different, but all together!" Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, September 20, 2004, Chas Updated (January 2005) BROADCASTING OF MUNICIPAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN'S CLIPS IN RUSSIAN STOPPED In response to the petition of the union For Fatherland and Freedom/LNIM, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission, Arnis Cimdars, has issued a decision to stop broadcasting of municipal election campaign's clips about voting procedure in the Russian language. In its petition FF/LNIM argued that broadcasting of clips in Russian contradicts the Law on Municipal Elections and the Law on Language. However, the Russian-language newspaper, "Vesti Segodnya", notes that the use of languages in the mass media is not the subject of the Language Law, but the Law on Radio and Television. The Law on the Central Election Commission stipulates that the commission should co-operate with the mass media to provide information to voters and it does not mention any restrictions concerning the use of languages. Some left-wing MPs (Jurijs Sokolovskis (FHRUL) and Boris Tsilevitch (People's Harmony Party)) believe that the decision of Arnis Cimdars shows that the Commission is not politically objective, while Antra Rugate from People's Party claims that this decision is correct and all Latvian citizens should know the Latvian language. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, January 8, 2005, Vesti Segodnya, Chas THREE PROGRAMS TOWARDS SOCIAL INTEGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIC SOCIETY Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Society Integration is planning to start three programs directed towards social integration, development of civic society, support of the Latvian Diaspora and promotion of tolerance. According to the deputy director of the Secretariat's Department of Ethnic Minority Affairs, Denis Hanovs, Ls 30,000 have been allocated to this program, which foresees media monitoring, as well as an active involvement of youth and minority NGOs. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, January 11, 2005, Latvijas Avize Updated (March 2005) MONEY FOR THE SOCIETY INTEGRATION FOUNDATION According to the Director of the Society Integration Foundation, Nils Sakss, EUR 1,500,000 were allocated for ethnic integration projects in 2004. The biggest amount of this funding came from the EU PHARE grant scheme. The Director also reported that in 2004, the number of submitted projects in the area of ethnic integration dropped by 50 percent, in comparison to 2003. Next year the share of the state funding allotted for the Foundation will be three times smaller; however, the funding from the EU will increase and will reach the amount of EUR 2,000,000. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, Latvijas Avize, December 14, 2004 LATVIAN LANGUAGE COURSES People whose monthly income does not exceed LVL 100 (EUR 143) have a chance to apply for Latvian language courses free of charge. Those who do not fall into this category can apply for the courses as well; however, they have to pay just a symbolical fee of LVL 12 (EUR 17) for a three-month language course. The courses are financially supported by the Society Integration Foundation. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, Telegraf, February 1, 2005 Updated (January 2006) LATVIA WILL GRANT ALLOWANCES TO PERSONS WHO WANT TO REPATRIATE The Government of Latvia will grant allowances to Russian-speaking pensioners of World War II to foster their emigration to their motherland from January 1, 2006. According to the regulations, a person will receive 1,200 LVL (1,707 Euro); two people – 1,800 LVL (2,560 Euro); three – 2,400 LVL (3,414 Euro) and four or more people – 2,700 LVL (3,841 Euro). The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs predicts that there will be around thirty persons willing to repatriate to Russia within a year. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, December 20, 2005, Vesti Segodnya Updated (January 2007) GOVERNMENT DOUBLES THE BUDGET OF THE STATE LANGUAGE CENTER The annual funding of the State Language Center will increase by LVL 100,000 (EUR 157,000) in 2007 and the total funding will amount to LVL 223,000 (EUR 317,300). Director of the Center, Agris Timuska, is satisfied with the government's decision lobbied by the new Minister of Justice, Gaidis Berzins (FF/LNIM). The main share of the budget will be spent on salaries of the existing staff and hiring new state language inspectors. The Director of the Language Center says that their aim for 2007 is to focus on the use of language in public sphere and service area. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, December 5, 2006 Updated (April 2008) INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE LANGUAGE - A REASON TO DISMISS AN EMPLOYEE The Latvian State Language Center has fined a board member of municipal company Rezeknes Namsaimnieks in eastern Latvian city of Rezekne with 100 lats for insufficient knowledge of the official language. The center's representative Atis Skalbergs said the board member of the company was punished in December 2007 for not using the official language when performing his professional duties. He was supposed to have taken the official language examination by April 1st 2008, but he failed to do so. The Rezekne city council has to decide now whether or not to dismiss the employee. Skalbergs said that in compliance with the law the council has to dismiss this board member. But the municipality can still ask the State Language Center to form up a committee to assess his knowledge. Source: The Baltic Times online, News - Latvia, April 17, 2008 http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/20273/ Updated (October 2008) LATVIA SPENDS LVL 1,705,799 FOR PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE LANGUAGE “Chas” reports that Latvia estimates the expenditure of LVL 1,705,799 (USD 3,107,385) annually on the development and protection of the Latvian language. The main institution working in this field are the State Language Center, the National Agency for Latvian Language Training, the State Language Agency, the Centre of Translation and Terminology, the Department of State Language Policy of the Ministry of Education and Science, and the State Language Commission. Source: Integration and Minority Information Service of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights, October 16, 2008 |
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