Current Issues In Language and Society
|
Volume: 6 Number: 1 Page: 48–56
|
|
|
|
|
Ethno-linguistic Relations in Contemporary Latvia: Mirror Image of the Previous Dispensation?
|
|
Frank Knowles
|
|
Latvia, like the other Baltic states, experienced a sense of injustice and resentment at the loss of statehood. The Balts were the least likely groups to subscribe to the ideal of a Soviet family of peoples
living together harmoniously and communicating in Russian. In the post-Soviet period, the Latvians exercised their legal right to determine their own citizenship criteria. In the first draft of the laws,
citizenship was based on the situation in Latvia when it was taken over by the Soviet Union in 1940. It included, all those resident in Latvia on 17/6/1940 and those who were subsequently deported from
Latvia; it excluded the large numbers of Russians who had arrived since that time. The citizenship laws which were eventually adopted were more favourable to the Russians but the actual administrative process
of naturalising half a million Russian speakers will only proceed slowly. The Russian-speaking population remains in a relatively disadvantaged position.
© Multilingual Matters 1999
Full text PDF
|
