Expert: Russian not to become state language in Latvia in any case

International journalist and expert in the Baltic region Andrei Yeliseyeu analyzes the situation.

Euroradio: Latvia gained independence 20 years ago, why has it been decided to hold the referendum now?

Andrei Yeliseyeu: The issue has been brewing as misunderstanding between the two language communities – Latvian-speaking and Russian-speaking – arose from time to time. I should say that it is a slap in the face or a response of the Russian community to the recent parliamentary election. The parliamentary election was held in September and the party that Russian-speaking citizens voted for – “Harmony Centre” – could actually win it. It scored almost 30% of the votes – more than any other party – but it did not get any seats because the parties ethnic Latvians voted for decided to unite and created a coalition. Thus, the votes of a great number of representatives of the Russian minority were not taken into account. The civil association “For Mother Tongue” presented the initiative of making the Russian language the second state language after the election.

Euroradio: Will the Latvians unite again and come to election centres to vote for the Latvian language?

Andrei Yeliseyeu: They will as all Latvian right-wing parties are urging to come and vote against the Russian language now. It is a matter of psychology. The Latvian community can stay at home and the Russian language will not become a state language anyway because it will not win the referendum. The thing is the Latvian Constitution demands that 50% of electors should support an initiative and vote “pro”. There are more than 50% of ethnic Latvians. It means that even if all the rest come and vote for the Russian language, it will not get 50% anyway.

Even the Latvian PM drew attention to it: imagine that the Latvians ignore the referendum and only Russian-speaking citizens come to support the language. There will not be 50% and the Russian language will not become a state language in any case. However, Russian-speaking mass media and politicians will say that the majority of those who did come voted for the Russian language. That is why Latvian parties are busy asking everyone to come and vote against the Russian language. There is a lot of pathos about it too. Well-known patron, Latvian millionaire Vilis Vitols compared it to the events of 1991 and said that Latvians were almost on barricades. Many politicians say that the issue is as important as Latvia’s independence.

Euroradio: The state budget will have to allocate 1700 thousand lati for the referendum, won’t it?

Andrei Yeliseyeu: Furthermore, the Latvian PM and politicians from Latvian parties support the idea of allocation of the money needed for the agitation for the Latvian language from the budget. However, it has not been decided whether it is legal to use budget money to agitate for one of the referendum variants. The situation is rather ticklish for Latvia: according to the Constitution, there is only one state language in the country and it is the basis of the state organization. On the one hand, budget money could be used to support this basis. On the other hand, it is a referendum that may change the Constitution. It is not clear whether it is possible to promote one of the variants this way...