MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Russia will take in any compatriots who may be expelled from Latvia due to Riga’s discriminatory language policies, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
"Clearly, Russia will do everything possible to provide conveniences for our compatriots if they eventually return to their native country. As you know, we have a program of assistance for the voluntary resettlement of Russian compatriots living abroad," he pointed out.
According to Grushko, the potential expulsion of thousands of Russian nationals from Latvia, particularly due to their failure to meet overly stringent language requirements, is extremely alarming. The diplomat noted that Russia continues to contact specialized UN agencies and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), drawing the international community’s attention to "the absolutely outrageous and unacceptable situation where the rights of Russian-speakers and Russians living in Latvia are under attack." "As for the key trends, they are perfectly clear: it is about driving the Russian language from all spheres of the [Baltic] country’s public life, including education," the Russian deputy foreign minister stressed.
"The related laws are indeed draconian," Grushko went on to say. "They actually endanger the well-being and the very life of many of our people who live there, no matter if they are [Latvian] citizens or not; they still worked there, <...> contributing to Latvia’s prosperity, but if they now fail to pass a [Latvian language] test and additional testing, they will in fact be transformed into outcasts and second-class citizens," he added. The diplomat emphasized that the European Union and the Council of Europe, which purportedly stand for the protection of human rights, were doing nothing at all in response to Riga’s discriminatory moves.
According to earlier reports, Latvia's Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs sent 3,255 information letters about the expiration of residency permits to those Russian residents of Latvia who had failed to apply for permanent EU resident status. Their lack of knowledge of Latvian, the official state language, is another reason driving the plans to expel them. A total of 13,147 Russian nationals registered for the Latvian language test but only 11,300 actually showed up to take the exam. As many as 39% of candidates managed to pass the test on their first try, while more than 6,500 people registered to retake the test.