Speak Latvian, Or Else
It sounds like the nightmare of many cultural relativists: policemen barge through the doors of retail-stores, super-markets, and malls and charge immigrants with fines if they are not proficient in the native language or aware of its fine phonetics. What sounds rather bizarre is custom in Latvia, which has made sure to preserve and expand its linguistic base since its independence in 1991.
Articles 4 and 114 of the Constitution of Latvia designate Latvian to be the only official state language. In addition, the Latvian constitution underlines the fact that Latvian, the extinct Livonian language and the Latgalian dialect are considered indigenous and hence all other languages foreign. (This also includes Russian, which is omnipresent in Latvian society with over 40% of the populace speaking Russian.)
The Latvian language police force consists of eighteen inspectors who roam the country's police departments and retail stories. They also hail cabs to test the driver's Latvian skills. Out of 3000 inspections last year, the force was able to fine more than 2500 people, fines usually being in the range from one to 50 Lats ($2-$95). This is an impressive sum when considering the average monthly wage of $600.
As someone who has visited Riga several times it comes as a surprise to read about the Latvian Language Police as my Russian got me served quicker in the restaurant and in the market than the tourists. Furthermore there seems to be no obvious superficial hatred of the Latvians against Russians or Russian-speaking individuals. At least I did not get scuffled at when approaching people in Russian.
The policy of strict Latvian proficiency laws is also continued at the governmental level. Until recently a certain level of command in Latvian was asked for eligibility to Parliament and local councils. This regulation prevented Ignatāne and Podkolzina, representatives of the Equal Rights party in the 1997 local and 1998 parliamentary elections, from participation.
In many ways the Latvian’s are now reversing the times of the Soviet Occupation (1940-1941 and 1945-1991), in which school kids were publically humiliated when speaking Latvian in school. As a result, in 1989 only 21% of representatives of other nationalities declared Latvian language skills while most Latvians knew Russian.
The ardent assimilation policy of Latvia is understandable when looking at history, yet it seems that it will continue to meet resistance as it tries to convince often proud Russians to assimilate into Latvian society, an affront for many Russians who would see such a move as an insult and an un-patriotic duty.
Latvia’s case for the constitutional manifestation of its native language is also being discussed in Germany where Norbert Lammert, former President of the German parliament, has advocated for “German” to be noted down as the sole native language in the German constitution, the Grundgesetz.
While some point out the discriminatory element of Latvia’s policy it seems that Latvia it is set to continue in its path as it does not plan to sign the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
