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Latvia refusal to prepare referendum to grant citizenship to non-citizens discriminatory — FM

Russia hopes that such actions of the Latvian state authorities “will get an assessment of principle from the UN agencies, the Council of Europe and the OSCE"

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, November 2 (Itar-Tass) — The decision of the Latvian Central Elections Commission not to hold a second stage to prepare a referendum for the automatic granting of citizenship to non-citizens is discriminatory, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Lukashevich said on Friday.

“It is an obviously politically biased decision of the Central Elections Commission that is even more discriminatory against a considerable part of the local population in Latvia and that shows how much demagogical appeals of the leadership of that country “to the consolidation of the society through establishing the interethnic dialogue” cost in practice,” the Russian diplomat underlined.

“The unwillingness of the Latvian authorities to take into account the legitimate rights and interests of the Russian-speaking minority, numerous recommendations, which they ignore from relevant international organizations and institutions over the need for the elimination of a shameful institute of non-citizens for modern Europe points to a serious deficit of democracy persisting in that country,” Lukashevich noted.

Russia hopes that such actions of the Latvian state authorities “will get an assessment of principle from the UN agencies, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on human rights and ethnic minorities.”

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