Latvians vote on Russian

Two decades after the end of Soviet rule, Latvia is holding a referendum on Saturday which could make Russian the country's second official language.

The referendum comes two months after parliament rejected a bill that would have made Russian a second language. It was pushed by the Russian-speaker's movement Native Tongue, which collected signatures from 10 percent of Latvian voters.

Native Tongue organizer Vladimir Linderman said the vote was about honor and equal rights for Latvian residents of Russian origin, who do not want to be treated as "second-class citizens."

Support from Russia

The movement has the backing of the Kremlin.

"These people want to be heard and to be respected," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to DPA news agency. "They want to raise their children in their own language."

The vote, while seen as unlikely to pass, highlights the country's cultural and linguistic divide; Around one-third of the Latvian population and almost half of residents in the capital Riga are of Russian origin. The country has around 300,000 permanent "non-citizens" who do not possess a Latvian passport.

At least half of the 1.5 million eligible voters would have to vote "yes" to allow an amendment to the constitution. Yet surveys show only around a quarter of Latvians do think Russian should be a second language.

'Out of touch'

Latvian President Andris Berzins referred to the referendum as absurd and to its campaigners as "out of touch."

"There is no need for a second language," Berzins told Reuters. "Whoever wants can use their language at home or in school."

The president has even threatened to resign should Russian become the second language in his country, where Latvian has been the sole official language since 1991, when the country gained independence from the Soviet Union.

sb/ncy (dpa, Reuters, AFP)