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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 15:58

Kazocins: integration of nonresidents slowly advancing in Latvia

BC, Riga, 09.07.2014.Print version
Despite the constant complaining that the country has done nothing to facilitate the integration of nonresidents, it is slowly advancing, as the former head of the Constitutional Protection Bureau, Janis Kazocins, says in an interview with Latvijas Avize, reports LETA.

He reminds that in 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote that he cannot accept the fact that there are so many nonresidents in Estonia and Latvia. The majority of Russian diaspora lives in Latvia – 27%. "If you add up those who speak Russian at home, the figure is 34%. There will be attempts to use them against Latvia," Kazocins warns.

 

At the same time he adds that in 1995, there were 735,000 nonresidents living in Latvia, but now – 280,000. Almost half of them are over 60. Kazocins points out another positive aspect – 89% of newborns born in 2013, were registered as citizens of Latvia.

 

"Of course, belonging to Latvian citizenship does not always mean loyalty to the country, nevertheless, by choosing Latvian citizenship, there is hope that loyalty and the feeling of belonging will grow with time. If we look at the May 9 event, we can see that in 2013, about 160,000 people participated in it, while in 2014, the figure was around 120,000," Kazocins stresses.

 

"My conclusion: despite the constant complaining that the country has done nothing to facilitate the integration of nonresidents, it is still slowly advancing. Former President Valdis Zatlers once called "our" Russians the best Russians in the world. I believe that they truly are very different from those living in Russia, while the local residents have no interest in "being saved" from the EU and "Usakovs' clutches"", Kazocins believes.






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