Latvia Grants

 From the MT:

“Latvia Rules to Grant Citizenship to Immigrants’ Children”

Latvia’s parliament has ruled to grant citizenship to all children born in the country, regardless of their parents’ citizenship status, in new legislation that has been described as “historic.” An estimated 230,000 people in Latvia, or more than 10 percent of the population, hold “non-citizen passports” that bar them from voting or holding certain government positions and are passed down to children. A majority are ethnic Russians who remained in the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Latvian lawmakers passed legislation earlier this month granting automatic citizenship to children born to non-citizens, the Baltic News Network reported. The Latvian Public Broadcasting organization called the Latvian parliament’s vote “historic.” “I welcome the Latvian Parliament taking a decisive step toward eliminating child statelessness,” said Dunja Mijatović, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner. “I regret however that the parliament did not extend automatic citizenship to all stateless children in Latvia who are currently under 15,” Mijatović said. She estimates there are almost 4,900 non-citizen children under 15 in Latvia. Many Baltic Russians carry more than two decades of grievances over citizenship, language and cultural policies that have these communities feeling marginalized from mainstream political and economic life in the countries that they call home.

^ Latvia’s Non-Persons (former Soviet citizens living in Latvia that refuse to integrate into Latvian society by learning/using the Latvian language among other things) shouldn’t receive any special treatment. If they want to live in Latvia (and with that inside the European Union) then they should have to show they know the Latvian language, Latvian history and Latvian culture. I believe that every country has a right to make non-citizens in their country show that they can integrate into that country’s society by proving they know the national language (if there is one) and know the history and culture of that country – if those non-citizens want to become citizens of that country. Of course I don’t think tourists, businesspeople or anyone else that doesn’t want to become a citizen of that country should have to follow those rules. The Soviet Union collapsed 28 years ago and so there is no real excuse (except for a belief of superiority over the Latvians) for non-citizens not to be able to speak Latvian and pass any test on Latvian history and culture. I have met many ethnic Russians around the world (in Russia itself, but also in: Germany, Israel, Cyprus, the US and other countries) where no matter how long they live in those places they still do not speak the national language of where they live and have citizenship in (ie. speaking Hebrew in Israel after becoming an Israeli citizen, etc.) I know that any group of people that goes to Russia and wants to become a Russian citizen has to prove they can speak Russian and know Russian history and culture so why shouldn’t ethnic Russians wishing to become a citizen of another country expect the same? Many ethnic Russians continue to see themselves as part of a Super Power even though their country collapsed 28 years ago and the only Super Power left is the United States. Once ethnic Russians (inside Russia or around the world) start to realize that fact then they can move on. The British have had to do the same not too long ago so it can be done (although Brexit shows there is still a little of that World Superiority in the UK.) The days of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union dictating the use of the Russian language in Latvia are long gone and should not be returned. One way of making sure these former Soviet, mostly ethnic Russians living in an independent Latvia for the past 28 years integrate into modern Latvian society is to ensure they know the true history (not the fake history taught during Soviet times) and can speak the Latvian language. Latvians that were forced to live in an occupied and annexed Soviet Union and made to not only learn, but use the Russian language every day from 1940-1941, and again from 1944-1991 had no rights. They either submitted to the Russians in their country or they disappeared. The policy that Latvia has used since regaining its independence in 1991 is nothing compared to what the ethnic Russians and Soviets used. Non-Person nationals inside Latvia live and work in freedom and can travel anywhere in Latvia and the EU. They don’t have to worry about being arrested in the middle of the night and deported thousands of miles away from their homes or even killed. Considering what Russia has done and is still doing to the non-ethnic Russians left in Russian-annexed Crimea (Ukraine) since 2014 - forcing them to use the Russian language and either accept Russian citizenship or made to disappear – what Latvia is doing is only encouraging Non-Persons to accept the lifestyle of the country they choose to live in. ^

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/10/28/latvia-rules-grant-citizenship-immigrants-children-a67928