HEADLINES
Travelling exhibition about national minorities in Latvia On 24 October 2005, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Artis Pabriks, presented the travelling exhibition National Minorities in Latvia: Then and Now to heads of foreign diplomatic representations in Latvia. The exhibition has been created on Mr Pabriks' initiative. The exhibition reflects the ethnic situation in Latvia's territory over the centuries and shows the development of the traditional minorities of Latvia. It highlights the minority policy of pre-war Latvia and shows the ethnic composition of the Latvian citizenry before the Soviet occupation in 1940. The exhibition shows the role of the traditional minorities in the political, social, and cultural spheres in the period between the two world wars. It reveals the changes that have occurred as a result of Latvia's occupation by two major powers as well as the current situation in the areas of naturalisation and integration into society. Opening the exhibition, Minister Pabriks informed the audience about Latvia's extensive experience in the formation of a multi-ethnic society and expressed the hope that the exhibition will also help to resolve misunderstandings and eliminate erroneous preconceptions regarding minorities in Latvia. He stressed that in the area of integration of national minorities, Latvia can serve as a positive example to other European countries. Minister Pabriks noted that representatives of minorities have contributed to the popularisation of the country's name worldwide in the context of culture, sports, etc. Among the invited to the opening were the project developers - the Head of the Office of International Organization for Migration in Latvia, Ilmars Mezs, and the Deputy Director of Research at the Latvian War Museum, Juris Ciganovs. The Director of the Latvian Naturalization Board, Eizenija Aldermane, has also significantly contributed to the project's development. In November, the exhibition will be displayed in Belarus, before travelling to EU institutions and other countries with the goal of raising international awareness of the position of national minorities in Latvia. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Current News (21.10.2005) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Current News (24.10.2005) BNS (24.10.2005) Latvijas Avīze (25.10.2005)
Peak in numbers gaining citizenship During the first nine months this year, 16.4 thousand non-citizens have obtained citizenship through naturalisation. This is the biggest number since the beginning of the naturalisation process. Each month, from March till May, citizenship has been granted to more than 2000 non-citizens, which is the highest indicator registered. In September 1.451 non-citizens obtained citizenship. Since the beginning of the naturalisation process in 1995 Latvian citizenship through naturalisation has been granted to 101.7 thousand people, including about 12 thousand children, who were naturalised together with their parents. Diena (13.10.2005) Statistics on naturalization (as at October 31, 2005)
European Commission financing granted to promote equality and diversity In September 2005, the European Commission approved the project submitted by the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration Latvia – Equal in Diversity I (LED I). The total sum of the project is 89,751 EUR; the European Commission has granted 80 % of the total sum, and 20 % is covered by the Secretariat. LED I is the first project developed in Latvia which has attracted the resources of the European Commission to support the activities of partner networks of state administrative institutions and non-governmental organisations in reducing discrimination, promoting tolerance and informing society about the anti-discrimination policy priorities of the European Union. The project consists of six sub-projects with the aim of training, involving and informing the risk groups, against which discrimination and intolerance is directed, as well as those groups which develop information about cultural diversity, provide consultations on legal status, rights in the labour market, in the sphere of education, etc. The following sub-projects are planned under LED I: Days of Diversity and Equality; a training course for Latvian teachers Learning to Teach Diversity; Workshop on Participation and Equal Possibilities for the Roma of Latvia and local municipality officials; training seminars for Latvian judges Race and Employment Directives; an on-line library www.tolerance.lv; to ensure the implementation of the EU Directive 2004/83/EC, it is planned to publish an ABC book for legal immigrants and refugees, which will include information about Latvia, basic conversational language and other informative materials. The project LED I is coordinated by the European Anti-Discrimination Policy Department of the Secretariat with a network of partner organisations being formed to implement the project. They include the University of Latvia, the Baltic Russian Institute, the Latvia Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, the Association Political Education Initiative, the Soros Foundation – Latvia, the portal dialogi.lv, the National Agency for Latvian Language Training and the State Human Rights Bureau. LED I is financed from the European Commission grant scheme Restricted call for proposals for national authorities from the Community Action Programme to Combat Discrimination. BNS (17.10.2005)
Parents' school in Jelgava to assist naturalisation On 31 October 2005, the Society Integration Foundation supported Parents' school took place at the Foundation in Jelgava. This school is part of the project Piedalies! 2 (Participate! 2), with the aim of the lectures at the school being to inform non-citizens about the process for obtaining citizenship through naturalisation. Each group met with officials from the Jelgava Regional Department of the Naturalisation Board and during the lectures were informed about the required documents for naturalisation. Representatives of the national minority cultural associations shared their experiences in preparing for the examinations under the Citizenship law. The project Participate! 2 foresees other activities as well including debates for youth, a series of seminars, charity concerts, the establishment of an audio tour in the Gederts Eliass Jelgava History and Art Museum, an integration week and others. The project Piedalies! 2 is the continuation of the project Piedalies! and it is financed by the European Union, Latvian state budget and Jelgava City Council. The total cost of the project is 71,052 EUR (49,935 LVL). LETA (31.10.2005)
Letter of Honour granted for documentary film reflecting Roma life On 10 October 2005, the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration, Ainars Latkovskis, awarded a Letter of Honour to the film director Romualds Pipars for the documentary film For All My Life reflecting cultural diversity and the destinies of the Roma in Latvia. The film director thanked the Social Integration Ministerial Secretariat for its positive evaluation of the film. He also expressed gratitude to his crew, the heroes of the film and the town of Sabile, where filming took place. The film portrays the life of the Roma in a Latvian provincial town and their dramatic destinies during the Second World War, when thanks to the Mayor of Sabile, Martins Berzins, more than 100 Roma were saved from being shot by the Germans. Many of the children and grandchildren of these people still live in Latvia today. In awarding the Letter of Honour, Mr Latkovskis emphasized that there are many painful episodes in the history of Latvia and that Latvians and national minorities living in Latvia suffered as well. This film shows how one can influence the lives of many others – but only if they have enough courage to fight injustice. Ambassadors residing in Latvia, representatives of national minority organisations, Deputies of the Saeima, cooperation partners of the Social Integration Secretariat, as well as representatives of the media were invited to the reception in the Ministry. German Television ARD has awarded the main prize of the CIVIS media foundation European ROMA Television Prize 2005 to the film. Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration (10.10.2005) BNS (10.10.2005) LETA (10.10.2005)
Roma associations plan to join together in a union The Roma associations plan to join together in a union. The decision was made by representatives of 12 organisations from Latvian regions during a seminar organised by the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration. The seminar was organised with the objective of informing the Roma non-governmental organisations about opportunities to receive additional funding this year. The funding has been granted through this year's budget amendments – an additional 12,900 LVL has been made available for the development of Roma organisation projects, of which 8,000 LVL has been allocated for subsidies. Until now the Roma organisations could only apply for funding which covered projects for all national minorities. Several Roma organisation projects have already been implemented with the support of the Secretariat. The most recent was the Autumn Festival Sarad which took place in Tukums. The Secretariat has also supported several seminars, Sunday school lessons, Christmas, Easter and other projects submitted by the organisations. LETA (12.10.2005)
Internet portal to be created for minority languages in the countries around the Baltic Sea European minority and regional language experts have decided to create an internet portal for national minority and regional languages in the countries are located around the Baltic Sea. The internet portal, which will be supervised by the Swedish Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (SweBLUL), will pay attention to the local and national minority languages, their situation and development, as well as to the organizations connected with these languages and their representatives in eight countries. It is also planned to publish the latest news about the languages in the portal. The portal will include information about the lesser used languages in Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. The web-site will provide information about each region's geographic and demographic situation, maps, photographs and other news. The President of SweBLUL advised that a special section will be devoted to the social-economic development of the regions in which national minority and regional languages are used, as well as a section on usage of the lesser spoken languages in education, culture and in materials prepared by the media about these languages. It is planned to cooperate with the European local and regional languages portal Eurolang, which has been operating for several years. BNS (03.10.2005)
Students with "VW beetles" promote the values of integration From 17 to 19 October 2005, six students from Croatia with three "VW beetles" visited Latvia during their European round-trip to popularise the values of European integration. The Beetle Tour Europe project has been organised by the Robert Schuman Student's Association in Zagreb. The Croatian students are travelling for a month across Europe. The project's purpose is to promote the values of European integration through meetings with citizens, students' organisations and government representatives, as well as to familiarize European citizens with Croatia. BNS (12.10.2005).
For more information:
Newsletter "Societal Integration in Latvia: Towards Mutual Understanding and Cooperation" is a compilation of press releases and news reports drawn from the mass media and official sources. Not all of the views published reflect the official position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
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