Support The Moscow Times!

Moscow Appeals to OSCE Over Latvia's 'Genocidal' Language Reforms

Observe The Banana / Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Russia has asked Europe’s leading security body to condemn neighboring Latvia’s restrictions on foreign-language education in schools.

The measure that entered into force on April 2 phases in Latvian-language instruction among 10th through 12th graders by 2021 and retains a half-Russian, half-Latvian curriculum among primary schoolchildren. Around one-third of Latvia’s population of 1.9 million consider Russian to be their native language, raising fears in the country of a Moscow-backed "information war" that suggests the Baltic state is persecuting its Russian minority.

“We call on Latvia to comply with its human rights commitments and urge the OSCE [...] to give an objective assessment in this regard,” Russia’s representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Alexander Lukashevich, said Thursday.

At the OSCE’s weekly meeting, Lukashevich said Latvian language reforms violate the rights of minorities and “might lead to increase in ethnic tensions.” 

“In Latvia itself, there is an outcry branding the ongoing ‘reform’ of education as a ‘linguistic genocide’,” he added.

In 2011, nationalist politicians moved to put an end to teaching in Russian, but their initiative failed to collect enough signatures. The following year, Latvian voters rejected a proposal to give the Russian language official status.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more