Translated material
Hypocritical help
Do you know countries where only part of the population speaks the state language, while almost everyone speaks the language of the neighboring country? This is Latvia. A catastrophic situation has developed here.
Those who are called compatriots in Russia make up almost half of the population. But the worst thing is that the mentality of these people has been preserved almost unchanged since the times of the Soviet Union. Even among young people who were born after the collapse of the social empire. This is the real fifth column of Putin’s power in Latvia. And Putin’s government is doing everything possible to strengthen it.
Moscow television channels, which are widely broadcast here, zombify the Russian-speaking population in the same way as grandmothers in the Russian wilderness, where, in addition to Channel One, there is only a second one - just as “state-owned” as “First” and, not by nightfall mentioned, NTV. Russians in Latvia also watch nothing except programs from Ostankino, the well-known Ministry of Propaganda. And they readily turn their ears to this noodles and are not interested in other sources of information. These people see only the bad in everything Latvian. And Putin is great for them - he is bringing order to Russia. If you ask them whether it might be worth leaving for Russia, since everything is good there and everything is bad here, you will receive an indignant response: “Why should we leave?” Logic doesn't work in delirium.
They wanted to obtain Latvian citizenship, but did not want to make microscopic efforts for this. I myself went through the naturalization process and I can assure you that the process is incredibly simple, and the atmosphere in the institutions where it takes place is extremely friendly.
Now non-citizens of Latvia do not want to obtain Latvian citizenship at all, because the Russian authorities have canceled entry visas for them. Wasn’t this done to support the institution of non-citizenship and strengthen its fifth column? Latvian non-citizens now travel to Russia and EU countries without visas. And at the same time they shout very loudly that they are not given Latvian citizenship. And these cries are initiated and directed by the local pro-Kremlin party, which is generously financed from the Russian budget.
The Kremlin spares no expense on these screams and cries, but does not want to spend money on real help for those who want to return to Russia. Although Russian citizenship can be obtained easily. That’s why they give it because they know that few of the Latvian Russians will return to Russia, but here we need to have more of our people, just like in the Georgian territories that were subsequently occupied. But there are few people in Latvia who want to accept Russian citizenship, because then they will lose their status as a permanent resident of the EU and will need to obtain visas to enter European countries.
A pro-Kremlin party has already seized municipal power in Riga. Despite numerous corruption scandals in the Riga City Hall, there is a high probability of her winning the next municipal elections. After all, Russian-speaking people have one party, for which they unanimously vote no matter what, while Latvians have several such parties - their votes are split in elections.
The constant demands of various referendums - either on granting citizenship, or on assigning the status of the state language to the Russian language, or on granting autonomy to certain territories and the holding of these referendums - place a significant burden on the already poor Latvian budget.
The work carried out by the Russian authorities with their compatriots in Latvia is criminal. It slows down the integration of Russian speakers into Latvian society and in every sense undermines the foundations of the Latvian state.
Russia’s care for its language is also surprising. Is the Russian language under threat? Was he among the endangered? Imagine that after 1945 Germany would have become concerned about the status of the German language in the territories liberated from Nazi occupation and declared German the language of interethnic communication. And a member of the Bundestag around 1965 would publicly state the following:
“Of course, the status of the German language is very important for us. German is spoken in all countries of the post-Nazi space without exception. Somewhere, unfortunately, the German-language educational space is narrowing, and we will talk about this in detail on programs that are dedicated to individual countries, and why this is happening, and how to try to reverse these trends. But I think that we still have to be objective. Today, more than 20 years after the collapse of the Nazi empire, the German-speaking space has become quite seriously strengthened in the countries of the post-Nazi world."
Didn't you recognize it? This is a quote from the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Relations with Compatriots Slutsky on the air of Echo of Moscow with the word “Russian” replaced by “German”, between which there is no difference for the Balts. Anyone who doesn’t understand why there is no difference should take an interest in European history of the mid-20th century, preferably not using Soviet textbooks, which are still being replicated in Russia to this day. I also recommend visiting the Museum of Occupation in Riga, at least virtually - http://okupacijasmuzejs.lv/en . There is not a word of propaganda there - only documentary facts.
I declare with full responsibility that it is not the Russians and the Russian language in Latvia that are under threat, but the Latvian language and Latvians in their own country. Latvia must be protected from the unfriendly authorities of its large eastern neighbor. Exactly as Russia must be protected from them.