Another scandal over the Russian language in Latvia
The Latvian State Language Centre (LSLC) has contacted Daugavpils Mayor Andrejs Elksniņš for clarification regarding his speech in Russian during the Dragon Boats festival in August, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
This was reported by Delfi.
The Central State Language Center refers to a video recording of the festival held on August 24 on Lake Lielie Stropi, which shows how the mayor addresses the guests of the festival in Russian, despite the fact that the Latvian constitution stipulates that Latvian is the official state language. Also, as indicated in the message, according to the law on self-government, the working language of municipalities in Latvia is Latvian, and the head of the city, according to the Central State Language Committee, should make speeches in Latvian for the sake of unity of society.
Almost 2 million people live in Latvia, of which Russian speakers make up about 40%. The only state language in the republic is Latvian, and Russian is considered a foreign language. In 2012, human rights activists tried to achieve the status of a second state language in Latvia in a national referendum, but the majority of those who came to the polling stations did not support this initiative.
Latvia is facing another scandal over the Russian language.