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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 17:54

False information spread by radical left NGOs distorts opinion on national minorities in Latvia

BC, Riga, 17.10.2014.Print version
The actions of radical left non-governmental organizations (NGO) and spreading of false information are leaving a negative impact on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) opinion about the actual situation of national minorities in Latvia, Ombudsman Juris Jansons believes, cites LETA.

Juris Jansons.

After today's meeting with OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Astrid Thors, Jansons told LETA that during the meeting he had a feeling that he was listening to the opinion of the "Non-Citizens' Congress". Jansons said that Thors' questions had a taste of the said NGO's rhetoric.

 

He stressed that several NGOs who claim to advocate the interests of minorities are spreading false information in the information space about the situation of national minorities both in regard to education and citizenship. Such an action, according to Jansons, is a deliberate attempt to cause conflict among different ethnic groups, as well as to affect the international attitude and opinion.

 

By spreading false information about the actual situation, the international, as well as the society of Latvia are being misinformed, and their rights to factual information violated, Jansons stressed.

 

He said that OSCE supposedly had received certain information about minority schools. In discussing this topic, Jansons stressed that the public media is inundated with deceitful statements – certain parties are interpreting rules or decisions depending on their situation.

 

The ombudsman is dissatisfied with the fact that these activists are "shamelessly spreading lies about the problems of national minorities."

 

During the discussion with Thors, Jansons said if OSCE does not trust the ombudsman's explanations, and chooses to listen to radical NGOs, it should launch a surveillance mission that would monitor the situation of national minorities in the country in order to assess how their rights and interests are represented.

 






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