Latvians veto taking Russian as second official language
Updated: 21 Feb 2012
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RIGA. Voters in Latvia have overwhelmingly rejected a plan to adopt Russian as a second official language, defeating a constitutional referendum that underscored the cultural tensions remaining more than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Latvia became independent in 1991.
Although Russian is the native language for more than a quarter of Latvia's 2 million people, Latvian is the only state language and would-be citizens have to pass a test in the Latvian language and the country's history.
Saturday's vote clearly went along ethnic and linguistic lines, with the tally closely mirroring the breakdown of Latvian and Russian speakers. Nearly 75 per cent opposed the referendum with almost 25 per cent in favour.
SOURCE: smh.com.au
Although Russian is the native language for more than a quarter of Latvia's 2 million people, Latvian is the only state language and would-be citizens have to pass a test in the Latvian language and the country's history.
Saturday's vote clearly went along ethnic and linguistic lines, with the tally closely mirroring the breakdown of Latvian and Russian speakers. Nearly 75 per cent opposed the referendum with almost 25 per cent in favour.
SOURCE: smh.com.au
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