Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies

The Latvian authorities will need time to grant refugee status to the asylum seekers, finish all the paperwork and start teaching them the Latvian language, Kalvane said, adding that the state language will only be taught to those who have already been registered as refugees.

Even if all the migrants Latvia has committed to resettling in its territory get the refugee status and start working here, they will not bring about significant and sudden changes in the labor market, the head of the employment agency said. The migrants' integration success will have to be assessed later to enable a more detailed discussion on this matter, Kalvane said.

Asked about her unemployment forecast for next year, Kalvane said that next year's trends are likely to be similar to those recorded in 2015 and that joblessness will probably keep declining at a slow or moderate pace.