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Continuation of public television in Russian increases political tensions in Latvia

Ethnic and political tensions Controversy erupted again in Latvia over the use of the Russian language in public spaces, after the opposition tried to fire the Minister of Culture, Agnes Logina, who is planning to allow public radio and television to continue broadcasting in Russian beyond 2026. stands by. social democrat logina, who This Thursday, in the Saeima or Parliament, 24 votes were cast in favor and 66 against, which failed. This fueled further criticism of the government both in the Chamber and on social networks.

There have been calls for months in the Baltic country to reduce or completely eliminate the use of the Russian language in public places. They refer, on the one hand, to a point of the National Security Strategy which advocates public radio and television exclusively in Latvian or other European languages ​​from 2026, as well as a campaign launched by the author on social networks Advocates. Liana Langa

Which criticizes the use of the Russian language on posters, products and websites with the aim of erasing it from public life.

The no-confidence motion has thrown liberal-conservative Prime Minister Ivica Silina’s coalition into trouble, as its culture minister reportedly received the support of the pro-Russian Party for Stability and the populist Latvia First (LPV), whose leader was formerly the leader of Ukraine. An ardent supporter of strengthening trade relations with Russia.

In contrast, the conservative National Alliance (NA) and centrist United List (AS) They voted en masse for Logina’s dismissalOf Progressive Party.

NA MP Edvins Snor argued that “In the Kremlin’s recently published plans for Latvia, one of the basic tasks was to strengthen the Russian language and make it de facto the second official language in Latvia” and“What the Culture Minister proposes is exactly the same.”

With this, Snorr was referring to alleged Russian propaganda schemes leaked by the investigative journalism platform ‘Re:Baltika’, among other media.

hot dispute

Controversy over the use of Russian on television and the role and loyalty of the ethnic Russian minority It’s hot in Latvia Compared to the rest of the Baltic countries.

Estonia, which has a similar proportion of Russian-born citizens in its population – an estimated 22%, while in Latvia it is 23.7% – is taking a more relaxed approach to the issue and has even produced Russian-language programming in the last decade. expanded, while tensions were rising between Russia and Ukraine. On the other hand, in Lithuania only 5% are Russian speakers. And the use of the said language is not a matter of controversy. Martins Kaprans, a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Latvia and an expert on Russians in the Baltic countries and post-Soviet societies, told EFE that the controversy over Russians in the media has largely become an ideological conflict.

“Political Capital”

He said, “There was a time when one could debate the security contribution of Russian-language public service programming, versus not having it and allowing resident Russians to find and consume whatever they find, including illegally. “This includes viewing blocked official Russian media,” he said. , “But now it’s mainly about accumulating political capital

“Radical nationalists present Latvia’s Russians as a monolithic threat, but research shows that there is a wide range of opinions and groups among them.

“There are people who move between media in both languages ​​and those who consume only in Russian and there is fragmentation of the group on different issues,” The researcher shed light. Kaprans also predicted that the failed no-confidence motion would not be the National Conservatives’ last attempt to challenge Silesia’s fragile ruling coalition or end Russian-language programming.