All About Latvia

Language Wars

Apr 13

AleksPolitics, Society 5 Comments

RIGA – “Where do I go sign up to protect the Russian schools,” a distraught voice of a teacher-friend of mine blasted into my ear. “Latvians now want to close all our schools. We want to protest.”

The All for Latvia party has spearheaded the effort to collect the first batch of signatures to amend the constitution, allowing state money to pay for education in Latvian only. The campaign took some convincing, particularly in the eastern region of Latvia. In 15 months, it had taken the party to collect more than 10,000 signatures required, only 91 came from Latgale.

It’s reminiscent of the 2004 school reform protests when thousands of Russian students flooded the streets in protest of the government’s decision to switch the language of instruction to Latvian for high school students. It was the largest minority demonstration in the country’s new history.

An ongoing push to amend the constitution effectively closing schools with a minority language of instruction resemble more of a badly written play on a political theater stage than any serious initiative that aims to boost the prestige of the Latvian language among the Russian-speaking minority and – most importantly – improves the quality of education in this country.

10,140 signatures has been collected at the Museum of the Occupation, countryside, schools and public places. The number of signatures gives the supporters access to public funding, but narrowing down the time limit whereby they have to collect signatures from the 10 percent of the voters. It’ll be a big surprise if the group succeeds getting more than 153,000 signatures required to submit the legislation to the parliament.

Public outrage over the language issues seems to outweigh the outrage over the fact that more than 10,000 students between ages 5 and 18 are not registered in any of learning institutions. Some may have immigrated with their parents. Others simply quit the mandatory education. We don’t worry about our country’s economic competitiveness, our country’s wealth, instead we worry about the language of instruction.

The proposed amendment violates even the spirit of the 1918 republic, in a country where historically, schools in minority languages have been funded by the state. The move resonates more with the 1934 anti-democratic coup, which paved the way to a wide-shouldered Ossetian to take over Latvia in 1940.

The constitutional amendment is not the aim of this enterprise. It’s public relations. Having no substance on economics and job creation, the party has this one issue it aims to keep in the public light. The evil russkies. A recent diatribe by the notorious Dr. Slucis (in English), who called from his comfy Minnesota job on Latvians to build a wall on the Russian border, prompted a counter-reaction.

Two extremist groups – the Osipov Party (the link is in Russian), led by the young struggling-to-speak-Latvian Evgeny Osipov and the January 13 movement, led by the Russian deportee Vladimir Ilych Linderman, a former member of the National Bolshevik Party, began collecting signatures and funding for a counterattack: to introduce Russian as a second state language.

Organizations on both sides of the issue are taking hostage the future generations of Latvians, whose education’s quality is somehow lost in the never-ending battle over languages.

It’s Genocide!

Apr 11

AleksEconomy, Society, The Dombrovskis government Comments Off

RIGA – Words are a powerful tool. They paint a picture. They persuade. They dissuade. They arose people to war. They declare peace.

They matter in a public discourse. They set the public mood and reveal the mindset of its leaders, who rely on words to persuade the armies of Joe Six-packs.

Sloppy word usage is destructive.

Mayor of the seaside town of Ventspils, Aivars Lembergs – described by a colleague as a miniature Silvio Berlusconi – compared the international bailout to the Auschwitz concentration camp, on the eve of the Auschwitz liberation anniversary this January.

“If you’re placed into the Auschwitz concentration camp against your will and you survive, then it makes sense to praise you for your perseverance and heroism. But if you yourself go to Auschwitz and sign up to live there, how can one praise you? One can only wonder about you, how stupid you really are. Latvian political leaders have led Latvia into Auschwitz and voluntarily forced the people to live there,” Lembergs said.

Last week, Lembergs urged to extend the time this country spends in Auschwitz.

Auschwitz is not the only overpowering metaphor used in the public discourse. Of all the ways to describe the economic crisis, the populists’ favorite word is genocide.

On a recent cold sunny spring day, several hundred people gathered outside the presidential castle to protest. The crowd – surrounded by banners from opportunistic marginals like globaisti.lv – had a slew of demands. Their main demand was to “stop genocide of the people of Latvia.”

“Everything is done to destroy the Latvian state. Why are we all working now? My children and my grandchildren would have to work to pay back to the International Monetary Fund?” said one Latvian protestor to TV-3 journalists.

The public perception – cynical it may be – is that the government is intentionally and systematically killing off its own people by raising taxes, hiking electricity rates, raising retirement age. It fits into the general narrative of the Latvian suffering in the 20th century, a cornerstone of the modern Latvian ethnic identity. Moscow and Berlin both raped these people, pillaged their homes, deported and killed their men, women and children. It is bound to leave scars on the psyche. It is the worst thing they can think of when they describe their dire conditions.

Ironically, the frequent use of the word “genocide” makes the actual genocide seem less terrible. With more days of mourning than of celebration on the country’s political calendar, the word “genocide” has devalued so much that today it means very little. In the future, perhaps, the word could be used to describe a rainbow of feelings – from sadness to extreme joy. Teenagers could embrace the word to use it to describe something they like. As in “Dude, that’s genocide.” Ok, Latvian teens don’t use the word “dude.” But nevertheless, no longer it’s a reference to the Holocaust, or even to the deportations of 1941 and 1949. It’s now a reference to the current government policies as if reincarnated Hitler’s henchmen run the government. I struggle to picture the finance minister Andris Vilks as Goebbels.

Some of the public grievances are legitimate. The times are tough and socially unfair. The highest-earning employee of the central bank had claimed 44,000 lats (US$88,000) in child benefits for his family last year as he continued to earn. It turned out to be perfectly legal. At the same time, a family in Riga lives on a disability and Ls 8 ($16) child benefit unable to find work in this crisis. Policy makers are more concerned with populist slogans than with social justice. It’s frustrating. But it’s hardly genocide.

 

Lessons from the Kristovskis scandal

Nov 09

AleksNational Minorities, Politics, The Dombrovskis government 9 Comments

RIGA – The parliament today is likely to allow Foreign Minister Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis to keep his job. In the first week since his appointment, Kristovskis has come under fire after his emails exchange revealed his agreeing with xenophobic statements (some links are in Latvian) of a Latvian-American doctor, one of the party sponsors.

The incident illustrates the Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis’s Unity bloc as a disunited eclectic political force.

It also suggests Kristovskis’ own seeming inability to lead the party bloc. His mishandling of a petty mini-scandal resembles the Nasing Spešl scandal of the former finance minister Atis Slakteris, who went on to become a national joke. Insignificant in and of itself, the scandal marked the beginning of the end for the People’s Party, which swept the general elections four years ago. Kristovskis’ mishandling of the email revelation could also backfire and plummet the Unity popularity among the moderate voices, making it easier for the opposition to wreck havoc with the Unity agenda including a call for snap elections.

It also worth noting that the incident has coincided with the former member of the parliament Vaira Paegle‘s decision to quit politics. The former head of the NATO parliamentary committee, Paegle said she has been disappointed with the Latvia’s lie-infested political culture still in existence 20 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. She said the Unity party bloc reminded her of the People’s Party before its collapse. Even though she was offered a seat in the parliament, she declined. She quit the Civic Union. She decided to move back to the US to be with her family.

The Kristovskis scandal also shows the Unity’s seeming inability to manage public relations crises. Reasonable explanation has deteriorated to the point that the single enemy is to blame for all Latvia’s sins. Member of the European Parliament Sandra Kalniete’s hysterical press release over the weekend hinted between the lines that pro-Moscow forces and its allies in the parliament were to blame for the smear campaign – according to Kalniete it is one of 10 upcoming revelations – against the Unity and the Civic Union. It is as if Moscow was to blame for all Latvia’s ills, including the deepest economic recession in the world. The press release seem to suggest that one cannot assume that the Kristovskis’ email politesse in an attempt to raise money from abroad shifted his own political views closer to the diaspora Latvians, who wish to see Latvia Russian-free by any means possible.

It doesn’t help though that the Kristovskis’ own views remain a mystery. Perhaps, his views are conducive to the audience he is addressing. In most of Kristovskis’ public statements, it was impossible to learn what his views on integration and the Russian minority actually were. What was clear though that he attacked journalists for reporting it and his own fellow party members for leaking the correspondence.

Failure to communicate

Nov 05

AleksThe Dombrovskis government 1 Comment

RIGA – Mayo Clinic in the United States said Thursday it would launch an investigation into one of its employees after its Facebook page has been flooded with calls to fire Aivars Slucis, one of its employees, who espoused xenophobic views in a year-old email to Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis, Latvia’s future foreign minister.

“We are investigating the Dr. Slucis matter,” the clinic said.  ”This statement in no way reflects the views of Mayo Clinic.”

The clinic’s Facebook page received several comments mostly from people with the Russian last names, calling on an investigation, suspension, or firing of Dr. Slucis.

“Hello, most famous racist clinic in te[sic] wold. How are you? Would you be so kind to answer me, what is the whole list of nations that are not welcome in your clinic? Jews? Gipsies? Slavic nations? You are so brilliant! Uncle Adolf would be proud of you,” reads one post.

The incident underscores that it is impossible to promote racism to an audience that would share that view while maintaining an image of a diverse open-minded person to another audience in the age of the internet. It also illustrates the provincialism of Latvia’s new foreign minister.

Kristovskis could have nipped the incident in the bud if he had called for a press conference and explained his own views on diversity. He could have explained that ethnic discrimination on any level is unacceptable in a country that is a member of the European Union and NATO. He could have said that he believes that there shouldn’t be a discrimination in Latvia based on one’s ethnicity. He could have come out as a bigger man in this debate, leaving no doubt regarding his own views on Slucis’ xenophobic comments.

Instead, he chose to chide the media for reporting it. He chose to demand that he be apologized and that the media find the guilty person who leaked the e-mail in the first place. He chose to play the blame game instead of distancing himself from the whole incident and the extremist views of the American-Latvian doctor.

A balancing act

Nov 04

AleksHistory, National Minorities, Parliament, Politics, The Dombrovskis government 13 Comments

RIGA – A presumably old foreign Latvian wished I had never been born.

“Too bad his mother did not abort him, nor Arajs plant him as a fertilizer for weeds,” said the anonymous poster, who goes under the name of Mr. L. L. on a website for the Latvian diaspora. The site’s admin deleted this portion of the post, which I didn’t really find offensive. I prefer not to take idiots seriously.

So unlike our new foreign minister, the leader of the Unity bloc, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis. In search of glory and public appeasement he is willing to publicly communicate even with the radical wing of his own party. Last October, he had received a letter from a Latvian American doctor, complaining about the presence of many Russian-speakers in his native Latvia.

“Latvia is the only country in the world – including Russia – where Russians are marching forward,” Aivars Slucis said in an email published on a Latvian news web site this week. Slucis noted that as a doctor, he cannot return to Latvia because “I wouldn’t be able to treat Russians and Latvians equally in Latvia, which is not allowed. This is why I’m waiting.”

Kristovskis wrote a complete answer, filled with polite agreements. The letter began with words “I agree with your vision and evaluation” of the situation. The correspondence was made public yesterday after the parliament voted on a new government, effectively appointing Kristovskis a new foreign minister. Today, the opposition for calling for his dismissal. The opposition has called him a xenophobe who would not be a good candidate to represent Latvia internationally. When he arrived to the parliament this morning, he seemed nervous. Maybe it was because he was running; maybe for some other reason, but his hands were shaking as he read out loud passages from the email exchange. His political ambitions and sheer sloppiness got the best of him. He seemingly desires to be liked by everyone, including the members of his party so much so that he is unwilling to ignore anyone, including the most radical people in his party – the Civic Union.

For the Civic Union, the politics is a balancing act between the somber silent reasonable minority and the loud controversial majority. The current government would be wise to watch every step, double-check every move as it enjoys a mere slim majority in the 100-member parliament.  It doesn’t bode well for Latvia’s political stability.

Update: The Mayo Clinic in the United States has launched an investigation into Dr. Slucis’ letter to Krisotvskis, written from Slucis’ work e-mail account.

Shibboleth

Oct 21

AleksPolitics, Soviet Past 22 Comments

RIGA – Just a week ago, it appeared as though Latvia was on the verge of making a step forward. For the first time since Latvia’s restored independence almost 20 years ago, the pro-Russian political party came close to forming the country’s next 16th cabinet. Even if the government with Harmony Centre would have lasted for a week or a month, it would have done more to consolidate the society than 20 years of the state integration policy.

The talks, however, failed before they even started because of a debate related to the country’s Soviet past. Specifically, it relates to the event of June 17, 1940, when the Soviet tanks rolled in after Moscow claimed Latvia violated the terms of the 1939 Soviet-Latvian cooperation pact. Even more specifically, it relates to the term “occupation.” For the record, I don’t have a problem acknowledging the fact of the occupation. But now the term “occupation” has evolved into something distant from the 1940 events.

Since it emerged in Latvia back in the late 1980s, the term, it appears, has evolved into a loyalty test for non-Latvians, even those who are naturalized citizens of this country. The political debates go something like this:

“Tell me, do you believe that the Soviet Union occupied Latvia in 1940?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you really?”

“Yes.”

“Say it like you mean it.”

“I mean it.”

“Let me hear you say it.”

“The Soviet Union occupied Latvia in 1940.”

“Was Hitler as bad as Stalin?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t believe you.”

I understand that this is an oversimplification. Yet, it appears some folks will never ever ever let it go. To them, every ethnic non-Latvian will always be an occupier, who is always serving his master in the Kremlin and never actually adapted to the independent democratic republic of Latvia. It appears though as Latvians themselves have to come to terms with their own past.

I stumbled across this quote from a member of the Latvian Popular Front, Mavriks Vulfsons, written in the distant 1989 in the newspaper Atmoda, the Awakening.

Genuinely looking into history’s eyes, we have to name all that happened in the past by their true names. There was violence against the sovereign Latvian state, and there was dissatisfaction with the Ulmanis regime. There were brave and honest fighters for democracy and socialism in Latvia, and there were the Stalinist repressions. There was a no less bloody occupation period. There were Hitlerite henchmen and Latvian soldiers on the front’s both sides. There was the Victory and repeated repressions. (…) There was one historical injustice, which one should never forget, but it belongs to the past and it is irreversible. But still – without a 100-percent honest evaluation of the past, it will be difficult to forge our future according to those demands, which is given to us by our people, party, and time.

Election results bodes well for Latvia’s future

Oct 05

AleksNational Minorities, Politics, The Dombrovskis government 8 Comments

RIGA – Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis’ Unity bloc has begun moving out of its campaign headquarters in central Riga, leaving behind an empty office space, folded posters, and cardboard chairs. With the coalition talks on the way, parties muffled their pre-election rhetoric and have set aside their principles until the next municipal elections in three years.

In many ways, the Saturday general election was a historic one and Latvians must be proud of their parliamentary democracy. For the first time ever in Latvia’s history, the least number of political blocs will be represented in the next parliament. Only five. Consolidated parliament means the country is maturing in the ways of the true parliamentary democracy.

For the first time in Latvia’s history and – perhaps Europe’s – voters gave a sound mandate to the same government that raised their taxes and cut public wages. It shows the intelligence of the Latvian voters who didn’t buy the aggressive expensive populist campaign of the bloc For a Good Latvia, which won only 8 seats. According to the recent calculations, each seat cost the bloc more than 100,000 lats (200,000 USD) – unheard of by Latvian standards. It also shows that people understand the clear message that no magic solutions exist. One must get one’s financial house in order by making tough decisions on the budget consolidation. Call it the Latvian realism.

The key here was definitely Dombrovskis himself. As someone described him, “an honest, competent clerk,” who earned credibility with the Latvian public. The global crisis has made it possible to craft the lean mean government machine that would stop wasting the taxpayer money. It is an opportunity to create a better Latvia.

For the first time in Latvia’s history, a real possibility of forging a coalition with Harmony Centre exists. A perpetual opposition party bloc, Harmony Centre represents the Russian-speaking minority, 27 percent of the 2.2 million people. In part, thanks to the crisis, the sensitive issues of the language and citizenship have taken the back seat, focusing the debates on economic policies.

With the elections behind us, now comes the time for realpolitik and compromises. Who wants to take the sole responsibility for making tough calls on budget spending and taxes? In this case, it is best to forge a rainbow coalition to be able to share the responsibility for the future tax hikes and salary cuts. It would also halt any future drum for the public support to call for the snap general elections. In an ironic twist, the Unity sponsored the measure in the outgoing parliament.

The realpolitik makes for strange bedfellows. A newly elected member of parliament, Lolita Čīgane may end up working in the same government as the Union of Greens and Farmers, the party bloc, representing interests of the Latvia’s charming minigarch, Aivars Lembergs. Ēlerte has spent the last 15 years fighting the government corruption as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Diena. The Latvian nationalist Ina Druviete may crawl into bed with the likes of Nikolajs Kabanovs, who at one time has wiped his face on the flag of Latvia. As the minister of education in 2004, Druviete oversaw the completion of the education language reform in the minority schools, which caused huge protests from the Russian-speaking minority.

Of course, the ethnic division has not disappeared. Many Latvians fear the Moscow’s long arm. Many Russians struck off the Latvian names from the Harmony Centre party list. Two groups of young people from the Latvian and Russian communities broke into a fight on the election night in the Old Town. Clearly, there is plenty to do.

The first positive steps toward a better Latvia have been taken on the election day. It is shared responsibility for the future of the country with the group that has been shunned from political decision-making since the restored independence in 1991. And the consolidated society and the good governance could withstand any future crises. It will be all residents of Latvia who will reap the benefits.

Viss Būs Labi

Sep 18

AleksPolitics 2 Comments

RIGA – A homeless man with a dark long beard was sleeping on a tiny bench at a bus stop when my bus arrived. Underneath the bench, his faithful companion, a white dog was also sleeping. By his bench a political poster read: viss būs labi, or everything is going to be well.

We don’t need no information

Aug 03

AleksParliament, Politics, Society Comments Off

“There is a minimal level of education and knowledge, outside of which any election becomes its own caricature. You don’t just need rudimentary literacy, which allows a man .. to spell his name. Here, one needs understanding of the election process and platforms provided, smart evaluation of the candidates, understanding of the government and economy of the country and its needs, of an idea of the political, international, and military dangers; and of course the communion with the credible sources of information.”

– Ivan Ilyin, a Russian religious and political philosopher.

RIGA – The recent developments in the media market in Latvia force one to conclude that the Fox News-style of journalism has arrived. With elections being only two months away, it sends a frightening signal to quality in-depth journalism.

First, the recent changes in the management of the bastion of independent journalism, Diena, is an example of someone’s cynical play. Ever since it came to existence in 1990, Diena had been an elite newspaper that pushed the politicians to answer tough questions and served proudly Latvia’s citizenry. It was, in its own way, a true voice of the people. After the last year’s change in ownership and the most recent change in editorial staff, the new editorial team announced they’d be looking for new journalists among the 19- to 22-year-olds with no experience in craft. Last weekend, the assistant editor Dzintars Zaļūksnis held training exercises with the young people. As someone who had worked in the Riga city council’s public relations department as late as June, he’d know what to teach young journalists. As a test exercise, he has sent out the young people to go look for news on the street. From a prestigious newspaper, the new class would turn it into a training college paper. The former influencer in policy making is either starting from scratch or digging itself a grave.

Second, the Latvia’s second most watched TV channel is staging a series of “public debates” on important issues. “Latvia We are Listening” could be a good thing. Don’t jump to your conclusions until you consider the new owner’s political connections to the old new kids on the block: Par Labu Latviju (For Good Latvia, or PLL).

As Harry Callan said last week:

On last night’s show, of the panel of ten people giving their opinions about agriculture, most had either direct or indirect links to PLL. The lopsided nature of the debate would almost have been understandable had the participants actually declared their interests at the start of the show — but they did not. As a result what we got was a party political broadcast masquerading as a debate.

Participants included LNT director Andrejs Ēķis. Ēķis is a prominent supporter of PLL. His name is often linked with that of PLL co-leader Andris Šķēle in connection with the so-called “Digitālgeita” investigation which involves allegations of huge fraud using offshore companies in the way Latvia switched to digital TV. Both Ēķis and Šķēle deny any wrongdoing. The investigation continues. Ēķis had his assets frozen in March.

Ripped off a page from the O’Reilly Factor, the program took place in the “No Politics Zone.” Yesterday’s show included a deeply thought-provoking question: “Are forests our national treasure?” (pictured) Clearly the show – and that was the show – intended to reach into the hearts of the viewers, reaching into their feeling as victims of the big bad world out there. Under the pretenses of being fair and balanced, the television show showed stories of people who lost their jobs in the forest industry and who ended up fighting with banks and large corporations. It also points out that the government chose to rescue Parex, instead of helping those people. As the grim voice accused the government of apathy, it showed the current minister of economics, Artis Kampars from the New Era party, rather than the true face of the Parex takeover, Atis Slakteris, then-finance minister, from the People’s Party, which is now part of the PLL.

The show clearly targets the lowest intellectual common denominator, a person who spent the last five years in the basement of his mother’s house, reading the conspiracy theory literature.

Which brings me to my guilty pleasure on the media market: Neatkarīga Rīta Avīze (Independent Morning Newspaper). Under its straightforward name, the newspaper serves as a window to the soul of Aivars Lembergs, the mayor of Ventspils. It is not clear exactly who or what owns the newspaper, but it often is used as a platform for the mayor of Ventspils to deliver fatwas on the leaders of the government or the international lenders.

In a recent interview, Lembergs said that Latvia state-owned energy and railroad companies along with the forestry company will be sold off to an “international oligarchy” immediately after the elections. It offered a glimpse into his own mind.

The well-designed newspaper provides also provides a glimpse into the world of conspiracy theories and serves as a fascinating overview of what methods certain individuals use to get to the power. It often bashes the Sorosistas, incorruptible journalists along with the members of the local chapter of the Transparency International.

With the education system in ruins, the public appears to be getting dumber and dumber. The coverage is getting angrier, forcing one to suspect that the upcoming elections will be but a farce. The population unable or unwilling to think, to deduce, to reason is much easier to manipulate. It is much easier to persuade them of imagined enemies, imagined problems. It is much easier to exert control. Taking over railroads, telegraph and post office was the task number one of the Bolsheviks coup in 1917. What comes next?