UNESCO was called upon to give a public assessment of discrimination against Russian-speaking residents of Latvia

The Permanent Mission of Russia to UNESCO called on the director general of the organization, Audrey Azoulay, to pay attention to discrimination against Russian-speaking residents of Latvia on the basis of language, as well as to publicly assess the actions of the Latvian authorities and call on them to fulfill international obligations. About it reported in the Telegram channel of the permanent mission.

“UNESCO stands for the freedom of expression of every person in the language of his choice, which is enshrined in the relevant international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is emphasized in the UNESCO Recommendation on the Development and Use of Multilingualism (2003),” the permanent statement reminded representative office

The Department claims that after amendments to migration legislation, at least 6,000 Russians who did not pass the language exam in the Latvian language faced the threat of deportation from the country.

In September 2022, the Latvian Seimas approved amendments according to which permanent residence permits issued to Russians will expire on September 1, 2023. To stay in Latvia, it is necessary, among other things, to pass an exam on knowledge of the state language at level A2. In August 2023, it became known that the Russians were given the opportunity get temporary residence permit for two years to prepare for and pass the language exam. On September 4 it was reported that the test on the first attempt didn’t pass 61% of Russian citizens. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has repeatedly called amendments are discriminatory.