The struggle for survival
When Latvia restored its independence in 1990, a bit more than 10 per cent of ethnic non-Latvians could speak Latvian. By now, the number of Latvian-speakers among those who don’t consider themselves Latvians has risen significantly.
Thanks, in part, to the article of the Constitution that declared Latvian as the sole state language in the Republic of Latvia.
Earlier this week, however, Ina Druviete, a woman who worked on elevating Latvian to the status of a state language, declared in the future, Latvia may grant the Russian language a status of minority language.
I see it as a compromise solution to eliminate the Russian hard-liners who demand the Russian be given status of the state language.
On the other hand, this suggestion appears very pragmatic — Russian is widely used here already. And a simple recognition as a minority language in Latvia is a statement of fact.
A few years back, the government started relaxing rules regarding the use of Russian in public. The court ruled that broadcast quotas, requiring a broadcaster to broadcast a certain portion of its programming in Latvian, were deemed unconstitutional. The government also allowed signs, not business names, to be posted in Russian and there are plenty of them in Riga at least.
All pointing out that the purity and development of the Latvian language is no longer threatened by the presence of the Russian language, or even English.
The picture of a sugar packet above was taken at a typical Latvian hangout beautifully called Salt’N'Pepper. That’s right – it’s in English, or Ebonics, not sure. If language police really wanted to protect the language, they’d impose stricter rules against all foreign languages like the French.
But no, our language laws are targeted at one language only. The one with weird letters. Of course, it’s because of our historical baggage, which will take a few generations to overcome.
But for now, this is a pleasant sign of some kind unity from a person who supports the development of Latvian: the mere acknowledgment that Russian is a language of a minority.
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