• Minister of Justice Mareks Seglins: something is wrong with Latvian integration policy
• General Prosecutor’s Office initiated a criminal process in a case of publication of the list of “occupants”
• Two members of the Liepaja City Council were deprived of the right to speak using interpreters
• Vesti Segodnya reports on discussion about non-citizens
• Saeima refused proposal to include ethnic minorities into the list of unemployment risk groups

According to the Minister of Justice Mareks Seglins (People’s party), something was wrong with integration policy in Latvia during the last 20 years. Mr. Seglins believes that ethnic Latvians dislike Russian speaking residents because Latvia is almost the only state were they can preserve their own identity. Mr.Seglins also believes that representatives of other ethnicities, first of all Russians, feel themselves free and comfortable in any country, while ethnic Latvians are afraid of anything that comes from others and first of all from Russians. Mr. Seglins alleges that many Russian speaking residents who were born in this country do not feel that Latvia is their motherland and he attributes this to mistakes in policy towards people of other ethnicities. Chas, Telegraf

The General Prosecutor’s Office initiated a criminal process in a case of publication of the list of “occupants”. The case will be investigated by the Security Police. As reported, a nationalistic Latvian Internet site published the list with personal data of owners of cars decorated with Russion symbols. Telegraf, Latvijas Avize

Members of the Liepaja City Council Valerijs Kravcovs and Stins Lorencs left the Council’s session as a protest after they were deprived of the right to speak using interpreters during the session. Both deputies use interpreters during the sessions due to insufficient Latvian language proficiency. Vesti Segodnya, Latvijas Avize

Vesti Segodnya reports on discussion of youth organisations of political parties “the Concord Centre”, “the Civic Union”, “the New Era”, “the People’s party” and independent experts about non-citizens. According to the newspaper, representatives of so-called ethnic Latvian parties acknowledged that it is not profitable for Latvian governing politicians to grant voting rights to non-citizens because it would strengthen positions of so-called pro-Russian parties.

Yesterday, the Saeima refused draft amendments to the Law on support to unemployed persons stipulating inclusion of ethnic minorities into the list of unemployment risk groups, proposed by the members of the For Human Rights in United Latvia (FHRUL). Also, the Saeima refused the FHRUL’s proposal to allow conducting re-training courses in Russian language. Vesti Segodnya