The
Russian-speaking minority and the integration into the European Union
An outside view gives us the impression that
the European Union (EU) is strict when it comes to the respect of democratic principles
by its member countries. However, Latvia, a small Baltic country (barely 2
million inhabitants) considers around 10% of its population as “non-citizens”.
This Russian-speaking minority of its population does not have the right to
vote. Nevertheless, the country is still part of the EU! On the other hand,
despite a mass exodus and severe budget cuts, two phenomena linked to its
integration into the EU, Euroscepticism is almost non-existent in Latvia. Here
is a summary of an article from Le Monde Diplomatique of December 2021 [1].
The
Russian-speaking minority
Since the independence of this former Soviet
republic in 1991, its Russian-speaking population has been in the line of fire.
All residents who arrived in Latvia after the first annexation of 1940 by the
USSR (mostly Russians, but also from other republics of the USSR) were
considered “outsiders” to the new nation. Estonia followed the same path, but
not Belarus or Ukraine, which granted citizenship to the entire population
after 1991. In Latvia, 700,000 people, or a third of the population, were
deprived of citizenship status defined at the independence. In 1995, a law formulated
the concept of “non-citizens” for them (status granted to residents who had
settled before 1992, had lived in the territory for more than ten years or were
born there). Three years later, another law facilitated their access to
citizenship, but naturalizations have stagnated since Latvia joined the
European Union in 2004. There are still 190,500 "non-citizens" today (including
65% who define themselves as Russians). Thus, 10% of the population is deprived
of the right to vote (even in local elections) and prohibited from exercising
certain professions (civil servant, lawyer, notary, pharmacist, etc.).
The 2012
Referendum
In 2012, a referendum was organized for the
recognition of Russian as a second official language, following a citizens'
initiative that collected ten thousand signatures (as required by a provision
in the Constitution). Although hyped by the highly watched Russian television
channels in the country, the ballot ended with a massive "no" (75% of
unfavorable votes). But the mere fact that such a consultation was held was
enough to push the Latvian state in a panic mode.
In recent years, the Assembly of the Council of
Europe has adopted several resolutions urging Latvia to promote the integration
of Russian speakers into the civil service and the teaching of minority
languages. However, the 2018 reform of the education system hardly considers
these directives. By 2022, it imposes teaching entirely in Latvian in all
secondary schools, which will eliminate the remnants of school multilingualism
(Russian, Latvian and a few other minority languages, such as Polish) inherited
from the Soviet period.
Emigration to
the West
Since 1991, the country has lost almost a third
of its population. If death rates (rising) and birth rates (falling) contribute
to the demographic crisis, emigration to the Western European countries
explains a third of this drop. Since 2001, nearly three thousand villages have
been wiped off the map (i.e. 32% of localities) [2], forcing the government to
redesign the administrative division of the territory.
Integration into the Schengen area in 2007,
combined with a draconian austerity policy after the 2008 crisis (salaries cut
by 30% in the private sector, contraction of public expenditure equivalent to
15% of GDP, reduction of 20% minimum wage), have caused a massive rush towards
Western Europe, for example towards Ireland [3]. In spite of this huge blow,
there are no Eurosceptic parties in Latvia, and the negative consequences of
joining the European Union remain taboo in public debate.
Despite the social cost of “returning” to the
family of European democracies, Latvia seems to have accepted its status as a
“small country” for which independence partly meant a mere change of guardianship.
It has done so by breaking its ties with Moscow, in order to embrace Europe,
despite the high price this choice entails.
[1] https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2021/12/RICHARD/64141
[2] Sintija Ambote, « Cette
année, vingt-cinq villages ont été rayés de la liste des localités, mais tous
ne sont pas vides », LSM, Riga, 8 novembre 2018.
[3] Lire Philippe Rekacewicz et
Ieva Rucevska, « Aucun vent de panique, mais… », Le Monde diplomatique,
septembre 2009.
https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2009/09/REKACEWICZ/18160
