You may recall the case of Yuri Petropavloski, an ethnic Russian who was denied the Latvian citizenship because he was thought working against the government of Latvia.
Most recently, his case was considered by the European Parliament. The response was: the question of national minorities is the responsibility of each Member State.
Our esteemed Member of European Parliament Inese Vaidere didn’t hesitate to put a spin on things:
“Komisijas atbilde tikai pierÄdÄ«jusi acÄ«mredzamo – Å¡Ä« ir pret Latviju vÄ“rsta politiska akcija, kurai nav pat mazÄkÄ sakara ar Petropavlovska kunga tiesÄ«bu ierobežoÅ¡anu.”
Ms. Vaidere, of course, confuses the matters of a case with whose responsibility it is to decide. Granted, it was a stupid decision to take a local case to the levels of European Parliament, the body that is not responsible for minority legislation in Member States. Perhaps, Mr. Petropavlovski should have considered the Constitutional Court for his petition or the European Court of Human Rights.
