OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities discusses issues of citizenship, language, and education in Latvia

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Astrid Thors discussed the situation of national minorities and the integration of society with the Latvian authorities, parliamentarians, civil society and minority representatives during her first visit to Latvia as High Commissioner on 15-17 October 2014.

Thors discussed the language policy in Latvia in general and specifically education in minority languages, the situation of non-citizens and naturalization, the implementation of integration policy and the political participation of minorities. .

In Riga, she met Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, Culture Minister Dace Melbarde, and representatives of the Ministries of Education, Interior Affairs, and Justice, as well as Ombudsman Juris Jansons. She also met the heads of parliamentary committees on human rights and public affairs and on education, culture and science. 

In the city of Daugavpils, Thors visited schools providing instruction in the Russian and Polish languages and met local authorities and leaders of minority cultural associations.  

In light of discussions about possible changes to the current system of bilingual education for minorities, Thors urged a cautious approach that takes into account the education rights of minorities, the actual situation in schools and the preferences of minority communities. While noting recent progress in the registration of newborn children of non-citizens as Latvian citizens, she also emphasized the need for greater efforts to encourage non-citizens to naturalize, and urged the authorities to promote use of the state language through positive measures, such as free-of-charge Latvian‑language courses.