Use of "language police" in EU member state sparks widespread outrage

by Martin Banks

The use of Russian and Latvian language is a highly sensitive issue in Latvia where Russian speakers, who make up about 40 per cent of the population, are regarded as "non-citizens." 

Non-citizens, mostly Russian speakers, are denied a range of basic rights, such as the right to vote in elections or seek work in a range of sectors such as law. 

They also have to undergo "naturalisation" process if they wish to enjoy the same rights as native Latvians.

Fresh concern about the issue has been sparked by new revelations that "language police" are carrying out inspections of Latvian schools to ensure official policy is enforced. 

It is claimed that representatives of the education ministry have started "rigorous" inspections of the use of the state language in the country's Russian schools.

This follows public protests against the recently-announced government intention to switch "minority schools" to education in the state language only. The Latvian newspaper Vesti Segodnya reports, "Representatives of the Ministry attend the classes and record how much the teacher speaks in Latvian and in Russian. This is ostensibly done in order to identify the teachers for possible dismissal.

"The inspectors also interrogate children about what is the language they speak during the lessons."

A spokesman for the Latvian Centre for Human Rights branded the inspections as "outrageous." He said," It sounds like the nightmare of many cultural relativists: 'language police; barge through the doors of schools, with fines if the teachers are not proficient in the native language or aware of its fine phonetics."

"The right of Russian speakers to use their own language is curtailed by Latvian law. More than 33 categories of employment are barred to non citizens, including many public offices, the military and police force."

The revelations come amid mounting concern in Latvia about new draft national laws which, it is claimed, will further impact on the status of Russian speakers in the country.

Critics of the current linguistic regime hope to gain international support for their campaign for change as Latvia gears up to celebrate its 10th anniversary of EU membership in May.Latvia is also due to assume the EU presidency at the start of next year.

Campaigners have launched a new drive calling for people to register their disquiet at the "discriminatory" Latvian laws via a website: www.noncitizens.eu

The initiative is organised by the Latvian Non-Citizens´ Congress.

Latvia is one of three EU member states (the others being France and Spain) which employ "language police."

A language referendum was held in Latvia on 18 February 2012 and, afterwards, Latvians voiced support for similar referenda on other ‘Russian question’ citizenship issues.

This was subsequently prohibited by the Latvian Central Election Committee as a ‘subversive threat’ against the state.

On 12 January 2014, the Latvian Supreme Court ruled that prohibition of further referenda was lawful. The court held that it is not possible to solve non-citizen problems by legislation. 

The judges said that in order to participate in the democratic process, an individual, even one born in Latvia without any citizenship, has to prove Latvian language skills and knowledge of the country’s history and constitution.

Elena Bachinska, Latvia’s non-governmental Ombudsman, who was elected in last month, said, “Maintaining Russian schools is an international obligation of Latvia under the framework of the Convention for Protection of National minorities. “The fulfilment of this obligation has been addressed by many European and international bodies, including the UN, OSCE, COE and the European Parliament. 

"It appears that the belief the Latvian language skills of minority children are poor – are just wrong. The results of centralized school exams last year showed that there is no relevant difference between minority and majority children in their Latvian language skills, while minority children are better in maths and other exact subjects. Bearing that in mind, the proposed reform is purely discriminatory.”

A Latvian MEP, who declined to be named, said, "The use of language police in schools goes against the whole ethos of the European project and should stop immediately."

Articles 4 and 114 of the Constitution of Latvia designate Latvian to be the only official state language. The Constitution says all other languages are regarded as foreign.

This also includes Russian, which is omnipresent in Latvian society with over 40% of the population speaking Russian.

The Latvian language police force consists of 18 inspectors who roam the country’s police departments and retail stories. They also hail cabs to test the driver’s Latvian skills. Out of 3,000 inspections last year, the force was able to fine more than 2,500 people, fines usually being in the range from one to 50 Lats ($2-$95). The average monthly wage is just $600.

The policy of strict Latvian proficiency laws is also continued at the governmental level. Until recently a certain level of command in Latvian was asked for eligibility to Parliament and local councils. The mandate of an elected representative can be withdrawn if the language of that person are deemed to insufficient. The MP or councillor must speak perfect Latvian without the aid of an interpreter.

One Latvian observer said, "The ardent assimilation policy of Latvia will continue to meet resistance as it tries to convince often proud Russians to assimilate into Latvian society, an affront for many Russians who would see such a move as an insult and an un-patriotic duty."

The alleged discriminatory element of Latvia’s policy issue has started to rise up the EU political agenda and Latvia’s case for the constitutional manifestation of its native language is also being discussed in Germany.