Lettisches Verfassungsgericht bestätigt Gesetz zur Umwandlung russischsprachiger Schulen in lettische

7 comments

1. This is not an anti-Russian act, but a pro-Latvian one.

   In Canada we have some experience trying to maintain languages with many indigenous languages at risk of disappearing. More on point here is Quebec, with more than four times the population of Latvia. I believe that the biggest threat to Quebecois French is not actually English Canada, but the cultural behemoth to its south, English America. When you live beside such linguistically huge populations you must do everything you can to make your language survive and thrive. Certainly mandating education in an official language should not be a shocker.

2. The Baltic countries were colonized by Russia the way Africa was colonized by France and Great Britain. Why is it seen as legitimate for African countries to seek to break from the colonial past but not for the Baltics? The ethnic makeup of the Baltics has been heavily distorted by mass Russian migration and deportation of the indigenous population to Siberia and other parts of the Russian empire. 

   At some point, we need to realize in Europe that we can’t be the “good” guys anymore. Russia is Europe’s primary existential threat and all measures must be taken to defend ourselves. 

3. This is what happens when you have a neighbor that uses language as an excuse to invade.

4. Russia is and has been colonial empire with all the cosequnces – forceful ethnic cleansings of the locals and bringing in colonists to change the ethnic composition. It is only proper that the countries, that have suffered from Russian rule, role back the consequences of Russian imperial policies. Latvia has already reached out to Russian colonists by allowing them to stay after USSR collapsed and offering a naturalization process. It has been about time Russians started dropping their demands to return back to the rules of former Russian empires.

5. As someone who had the misfortune to study in one of those “russian” schools, I support this decision. They did more harm than good, propagating further segregation of our society both socially and politically (a lot of older teachers were very obviously soviet-nostalgic and supportive of russia). Most universities (and all of the good ones) in the country only offer programs in Latvian (some have English too) – any student from a Russian school is heavily disadvantaged when they enter the higher education field. A lot of russian speaking parents have been choosing Latvian-only education for their kids for years now, enrolling them in Latvian kindergartens and schools already, but I honestly don’t think it should be a choice at this point. The reality is – we are not a bilingual society by design due to our complicated past and the fact that Russia clearly aims to weaponize the russian speaking population across what they see as their sphere of influence. While I don’t think people with soviet heritage should be ashamed of their language, I think we should embrace the language and the culture of the country we chose to live in.

6. Knowing the meddling EU I wouldn’t be surprised if this is eventually overruled by the European Court of “Justice” (ECJ) or some other high-level so-called judge. They seem to have a knack for working against their own citizens’ interests, especially when it comes to showing strength against Russia and illegal migrants.

7. My husband is Latvian. He immigrated as a teen refugee before the ussr dissolution and doesn’t speak or understand Latvian at all. He’s fluent in Russian though. Recently he was able to reacquire his Latvian citizenship and wanted to get a Latvian passport. When he went to the embassy and couldn’t communicate in Latvian they had an immediate aversion to him. Demeanor changed instantly. The fact that he knew Russian, but not Latvian made it worse. Then the realization that he’s also Jewish topped it. He received half ass service full of contempt and has the scariest passport photo I’ve ever seen.