Latvian language law

[Harold F. Schiffman]

NYTimes, Friday, May 10th.

World Briefing

LATVIA: LANGUAGE LAW DROPPED Parliament voted 67-to-13 to drop a language
requirement that hindered ethnic Russians in the former Soviet republic
from running for political office. NATO and the European Union had
demanded the change, which lawmakers hope will smooth the way to an
invitation to join the defense alliance. Russian speakers make up
one-third of Latvia's 2.4 million population. The law had required
candidates running in national and local elections to prove their fluency
in Latvian. Now they will be required only to give a self-evaluation of
their language skills.