From: aps@sonia.math.ucla.edu (Alexei Stolboushkin)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.soviet
Subject: Re: RFE/RL Report
Date: 25 Aug 92 17:57:13 GMT
Organization: UCLA Mathematics Department

In article <BtJryn.zH@apollo.hp.com> goykhman_a@apollo.hp.com (Alex Goykhman) writes:
>In article <1992Aug24.184031.1663@math.ucla.edu> aps@sonia.math.ucla.edu (Alexei Stolboushkin) writes:
>>
>>   ... A draft of Latvian citizenship
>>law (I do not know of its current status) states that all citizens of
>>that Latvian Republic, and their direct descendants, become citizens 
>>of the currect Latvian Republic. It is unrelated to ethnicity. ...
>
>    Hmm...  What happened to the residency and language requirements
>    often cited as being the two most important ones?

nothing happened to them. The requirement are applicable to individuals
SEEKENG citizenship, not having one already. It is the same in US, if
you are seeking American citizenship, you MUST demonstrate some English
language skills, however, if you are born in US, you are American citizen
even if you do not speak the language.

>
>    Besides, I personally know a woman who has lived in Latvia all
>    her life and who speaks Latvian well, thanks to her mother, an 
>    ethnic Latvian, who was born in Latvia before 1940, lived and
>    died there.  Despite being a direct decendant of a Latvian
>    citizen, the woman is being denied Latvian citizenship.
>    Perhaps, that has something to do with the fact that she
>    was born after 1945, and that her father was a Russian?
>
>    Now, tell me that it is not related to ethnicity.

it may be, or may be not, related to her ethnicity. However, what we
are talking about now are particulars of Latvian citizenship law, which
is not yet (to the best of my knowledge) in effect. Hence, this
particular case you are describing was obviously not handled according
to this law. It may be true, that a part of Latvian population, and
among them some Latvian consular officers, are disagree to the law.
On the other hand, they are not obliged to behave in accordance to
not approved laws.

>
>    I wonder if the Latgalians are eligible for the Latvian
>    citizenship - many of them have Russian surnames (i.e.
>    Anatoly Gorbunov) and speak a funny mix of the Latvian and 
>    Russian languages.  Don't you think the Latgalians are occupiers 
>    too, albeit somewhat assimilated?   Indeed, weren't they
>    favored by the Russians because of that?

no, I don't think so. The difference between four historical regions
of Latvia is historical, and not legal. Latgalia was occupied by
USSR, together with Kurzeme. Russian-speaking Latvian citizens
were under the Soviet occupation as well as Latvian-speaking.
On the other hand, some occupants have spoken very good Latvian,
and were even Latvians ethnically.

Meanwhile, in the current situation, the majority of the Russian
speaking population in Latvia should be referred to as ``foreign
nationals residing in Latvia permanently'', rather than ``occupants'',
as the occupation discontinued (let's alone the problem with
Russian troups).

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Disclaimer: all opinions are mine.
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Newsgroups: talk.politics.soviet