Language referendum

Travelling to Latvia's capital Riga, tourists might ask themselves whether they actually are in the small Baltic state. The Russian language seems to be everywhere: on the streets, in cafes or on the radio. In the capital, the Russian-speaking population makes up almost half of the population. The situation is similar in other cities across the country that joined the European Union in 2004. Almost one in three of the 2 million Latvians speak Russian as their native language.

On Saturday, citizens were called to vote in a referendum to decide whether Russian should be made the country's second official language and be given equal status with Latvian. The result was clear: 78 percent voted against the proposal, 21 percent in favor. Some 69 percent of the 1.5 million eligible to vote cast their ballot.

The referendum was launched by the initiative Mother Tongue of the Russian minority in the country and intended to change five clauses in the country's constitution.

"The Russian people of Latvia have to show to the rest of the world that they will never accept their status of being outcasts in their own home country," the website of Mother Tongue urged its supporters ahead of the poll.

The government, however, had called on people to vote against the proposal, arguing that the Latvian language was at the heart of the constitution and that the proposal had to be defended.

Simmering tensions

The referendum marked the escalation of tensions that had been simmering for decades. Under Soviet rule, hundreds of thousands from across the Soviet Union where moved to Latvia to work there. Moscow's policy eventually led to over 40 percent of Latvia's population officially speaking Russian as their first language. Many Latvians saw Russian as a threat to their own language and were concerned at the prospect of becoming a minority in their own country.

The tables were turned in 1991 when Latvia became independent. The government introduced measures to strengthen the Latvian language and culture. Whoever doesn't speak Latvian is for instance barred from working in public administration. Citizenship also depends on knowing Latvian. As a consequence, some 300,000 people living in the country are stateless. They do not hold Latvian citizenship and only have their old Soviet Union documents and passports. Amongst other disadvantages, those 300,000 don't have the right to vote.

But the dispute is not only about language. "What really is dividing people is their different perception of the country's history," said Andreas Klein, head of the German Adenauer foundation in Riga. While most Latvians see the Soviet period as a time of occupation, most Russians do not share this view.

What triggered the current dispute over language are recent developments in Latvian politics. In parliamentary elections in September 2011, the Harmony Center party unexpectedly came out first. The party is backed mainly by Latvia's Russian-speaking community. Yet despite being the single strongest party, Harmony Center is not part of the government as coalition talks with other parties failed. Many of the Russian community interpreted this as a coordinated effort to keep them out of government.

Macedonia's a warning example

After the referendum, the rift in the country could even widen, Klein said. The issue is being used for political ends, "It creates an atmosphere that doesn't really help living together." And before, this never really was a big problem, Klein added. Especially young Russians grow up bilingual and are very well integrated.

One such example is Dina Kortshagova. The young Latvian from the country's Russian community studies law at Bonn University in Germany. Russian is her native language, but she also speaks Latvian.

"I'm not supporting Russian as a second official language, and I also don't think it's really necessary," she said, adding that that she understands the Latvians' concern over the future of their language.

Klein compared the situation in Latvia with that of Macedonia. Ten years ago, Macedonia introduced Albanian as a second language and saw motivation among the Albanian minority to learn Macedonian dramatically drop, he said.

"There simply wasn't a real need anymore for them to learn the language of the majority," Klein said.

A common future within Europe

The main problem is not the language, but rather the general view that Latvians have on the Russians, according to Kortshagova. Many Russians are discriminated against because of their ethnicity and are treated like second-class citizens, she said, adding that she herself is not too optimistic that this will change anytime soon.

Klein said he hopes that the process of European integration will help to bring the two groups closer together. Latvians and Russians should together think how to shape their country's future with the European Union.

Author: Roman Goncharenko / ai
Editor: Sean Sinico