• Survey: majority of Latvian residents are intolerant towards Roma, homosexuals, guest workers and Muslims
• Security Police has initiated a criminal process on incitement to ethnic hatred in a statement made on Internet forum
• Minster of Justice Gaidis Berzins (FF/LNIM) proposes to stop naturalisation
• Vesti Segodnya prints opinion of representatives of ethnic minority NGOs regarding decision to close the Secretariat of the Special Assignment Minister for Social Integration

According to a public opinion survey conducted by the Analytical Research and Strategy Laboratory, majority of Latvian residents are intolerant towards Roma, homosexuals, guest workers and Muslims. 53% of residents of Riga would not like to live in the same neighbourhood with Roma, 48% with homosexuals, 33,7% with guest workers and 25,5% with Muslims. Highest level of intolerance towards homosexuals and Roma is in Latgale (Eastern part of Latvia).

Chas reports that the Security Police has initiated criminal proceedings on incitement to ethnic hatred in a statement made on Internet forum. According to the newspaper, in May 2008, a person under nick-name Randy commented victory of Russia’s ice hockey team in the world championship by calling for violence against Russians in Riga.

The Minster of Justice Gaidis Berzins (FF/LNIM) has appealed to governing coalition’s partners to stop naturalisation. The Minister considers that Latvian citizenship for those residents who arrived to Latvia in Soviet times should be granted only as an exception by the Saeima’s order. Chas

Vesti Segodnya prints opinion of representatives of ethnic minority NGOs in Latvia regarding decision of the Prime Minister to close the Secretariat of the Special Assignment Minister for Social Integration. Head of Russian Society in Latvia Tatjana Favorska states that their NGO does not co-operate with the Secretariat because considers it as a decorative structure which creates only illusion of democracy. Head of the Roma Union Leons Gidra states that their NGO will not feel as if something is lost because of the closure, since the Secretariat’s support was too small. In the meantime, head of Baltic-Slavic society Jelena Jarosevska criticizes closure of the Secretariat and considers that it gave a lot of financial support for ethnic minority NGOs.