Latvia - June 2023

The Saeima adopted legal amendments authorising border guards to prevent irregular entries at the border, outside of the locations and procedures required for legal entry, including by use of force. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concerns that the amendments effectively authorise pushbacks of irregular migrants, and therefore interfere with the right to seek asylum. UNHCR further noted an absence of procedures for processing asylum-seekers arriving irregularly, which may prevent effective individualised assessments of the asylum-seeker’s circumstances, rights and needs. The amendments also give the Cabinet of Ministers the authority to trigger a “reinforced regime”, which allows for the application of special rules to the movement of people at the border in case of large numbers of irregular crossings, including suspending certain border crossing points.

Sources: LSM, Latvian Ministry of the Interior, Cabinet of Ministers (1), Cabinet of Ministers (2), UNHCR (1), UNHCR (2), Amnesty International, Council of Europe

The Constitutional Court of Latvia (ST) found requirements for education in universities to be delivered in Latvian language (as set out in section 56 of the Law on Higher Education Institutions) to be unconstitutional. The case was put forward by 20 members of the previous (13th) Saeima in 2021. The provisions related to language of instruction were found to be inconsistent with article 112 of the Constitution enshrining the right to access education, and article 113 on the “freedom of scientific, artistic and other forms of creation.” The provisions were considered to limit the autonomy of higher education institutions, and to infringe on academic freedom of university staff, and will be invalidated as of 1 July 2024. Furthermore, the ST held that the Saeima failed to properly act on an earlier ST ruling in 2020, and did not evaluate the compliance of subsequent amendments to section 56, passed in 2021, with article 114 of the Constitution on the protection of national minorities.

Sources: Baltic News Network, LSM, Likumi, Latvijas Vēstnesis

On 22 June, the Saeima approved amendments aimed at strengthening the status of the official language in pre-election campaigns for national, local and European Parliament elections. The amendments pertain to paid campaign materials appearing in radio and TV programmes, as well as in public spaces, and content published in print and on the Internet. The changes make it mandatory for paid pre-election campaigns to appear in Latvian, or lesser used languages Latgalian and Livonian. However, they allow official languages of the EU to be used in campaigns for European Parliament or local government elections, as long as they do not exceed the use of Latvian in the spoken or written text. Websites maintained by political parties are an exception, as well as communication between candidates and her or his electorate in person. The amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2024 in the run-up to the European Parliament elections.

Sources: Saeima, Latvijas Vēstnesis, LSM

On 8 June, the Saeima decided to halt the granting of repatriate status, designed to facilitate the immigration of ethnic Latvian and Livonian people to Latvia, starting from 1 January 2024. Existing repatriates will be issued a five-year temporary residence permit rather than a permanent residence permit. It also introduces the requirement to demonstrate basic knowledge of Latvian, as the official language, in order for repatriates to acquire permanent residence. The amendments were approved with 83 votes in favour, and only nine votes against. Proponents of the amendments say the Repatriation Law, adopted in 1995, is increasingly being used to move freely within Schengen, rather than to return to Latvia, and recent inspections have uncovered the use of false documents in repatriation applications. The migration office notes that the war in Ukraine has led to an increase in Russian citizens entering Latvia as repatriates. Around 17,500 Russian citizens resident in Latvia will have to demonstrate knowledge of the national language to receive a permanent residence permit, according to estimates from the Baltic News Network.

Sources: Baltic News Network, Saeima, LSM, Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (1), Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (2)