Baltic States – CIS, Education and Science, Latvia, Legislation

He is certain that non-Latvians who pay taxes in Latvia have the right to demand that the government of Latvia give their children a chance to learn and study in their native languages.

"I believe that it is important to make sure that the minorities not only learn the official state language in schools, but also love it, and acknowledge Latvia as their home country, instead of holding a grudge and using the Latvian language only in certain circumstances," Pimenovs says.

He says that he wants environment to be created in which children would be able to meet their Latvian-speaking peers and use their language skills. "I believe that dual-language schools are our future. They could facilitate the integration of youth. Dual-language schools would offer subjects in Latvian for Latvian-speaking students, and subjects in Russian for Russian-speaking students, however, during sports competitions, school parties, or trips, everyone would participate. Teachers in these schools would have to be specially prepared," Pimenovs says.

He believes that children of different ethnicities must learn to coexist in Latvia.