Today, the Saeima Defense, Internal Affairs and Corruption Prevention Commission conceptually supported the amendments to the Immigration Law, with which the requirement of knowledge of the national language is planned to be applied to an additional few thousand Russian citizens.
The State Educational Content Center (VISC) will need additional funds for state language knowledge tests, the VISC representative said at the commission meeting. The initial amount of expenses is estimated at 390,000 euros. If people over 75 years old are subtracted from the relevant group, the total could possibly be lower.
After receiving payments from those who will have to take language tests, VISC plans to return the collected funds to the budget.
Igors Rajevs (AS), a member of the Saeima, parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of the Interior (AS), who submitted the amendments, emphasized that both realistic and strict deadlines for learning the Latvian language for the additional group of Russian citizens living in Latvia have been proposed.
Vilnis Vītoliņš, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, emphasized that the ministry supports and calls for the adoption of these amendments, which are essential for public safety at a time when Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine is actively continuing. Vītoliņš noted that it is important to conduct knowledge tests of the Latvian language in order to identify aspects of the integration of Russian citizens.
Support for the amendments was expressed by the representative of the Citizenship and Migration Affairs Board (PMLP), pointing out the need to keep ten of the previously allocated additional staff positions in the administration for the implementation of the amendments.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) explained the situation of international obligations, as the amendments will affect some of the Russian military pensioners and their family members, who are covered by the 1994 Latvian-Russian government agreement, which is one of the four documents related to the withdrawal of Russian armed forces from Latvia in 1994.
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that in the process of adopting the amendments, it should be stated that they are not aimed at military pensioners as a separate group, accordingly the proposed changes are not discriminatory, but aimed at a wider group of Russian citizens in Latvia, who will be affected by the amendments. Russian military pensioners do not have an absolute right to stay in Latvia, but they can stay in Latvia in compliance with the law, noted the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In response to the questions of Aleksej Roslikov, chairman of the “Stability” faction, whether Latvia should initially withdraw to some extent from the agreement concluded with Russia in 1994, representatives of both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications answered in the negative. The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the relevant agreement with Russia does not provide general guarantees for the said persons to stay in Latvia, as those who have chosen to continue living in Latvia must obey Latvian legislation. Also, the amendments have a legitimate goal – national security and related integration.
Representatives of the State Security Service and the Office of the Ombudsman also expressed their support for the amendments.
Preventing the different approach in the application of state language knowledge requirements to two different groups of Russian citizens is the right approach, State President Edgars Rinkēvičs told journalists on Wednesday.
When asked if the president would be ready to announce amendments to the Immigration Law, which are currently under consideration in the Saeima and which would apply to some Russian citizens who were not required to know the national language until now, Rinkēvičs said that the Saeima should be allowed to develop the law and adopt it.
“I cannot currently speak about things that have not yet been discussed in the Saeima and adopted in the relevant readings. I understand that work is currently being done to prevent a different approach to two different groups of Russian citizens, which, in my opinion, is the right approach. It is difficult for me to comment on the promulgation of the draft law or non-announcement until it has been adopted,” the President emphasized.
He referred to the Constitution, which stipulates that if the draft law is adopted by two-thirds of the votes of the members of the Saeima, urgency is determined and the president signs the law within three days. Rinkevičs said that the Constitutional Court (SC) has also evaluated the different approach, why one group of Russian citizens is treated the same way, and the other is treated differently.
“We must treat Russian citizens equally. If the bill passed by the Saeima is reasonable and follows these principles, I think the assessment will be positive,” said the President.
As reported, the amendments to the Immigration Law were submitted by MPs Edmunds Jurēvics (JV), Harijs Rokpelnis (ZZS), Andris Šuvajevs (P), Agnese Krasta (JV) and Rajevs. Similar amendments were previously pushed by the National Association.
The amendments would apply to some Russian citizens who were not required to know the national language until now. This group includes more than 3,100 persons under the age of 75. Also, these amendments could be advanced with the current approach, that knowledge of the language is required for persons aged up to 75 years.
This smaller group also includes retired Russian military personnel and their family members.
The draft law stipulates that the permanent residence permit for the specific group of Russian citizens will be valid until May 15, 2025 in one case, if the PMLP has not received the necessary documents for requesting the status of a permanent resident of the European Union (EU) by April 30, 2025.
In the second case, until September 15, 2025, in relation to a person who needs a certificate of mastering the national language in order to request EU permanent resident status, if PMLP has received information by May 1, 2025 that this person by May 1, 2025 .has passed the state language proficiency test at least once in May and this person will be required to repeat the state language proficiency test by July 31, 2025, but the PMLP has not received the necessary documents for requesting EU permanent resident status by August 31, 2025.
At the same time, the amendment provides for separate conditions regarding the proof of the sufficiency of financial resources and length of stay. Also, the amendment does not exclude the possibility for Russian citizens of this group to find another basis for obtaining the right of residence in Latvia.
As reported, in accordance with the verdict of the Constitutional Court (ST), an additional few thousand Russian citizens with a permanent residence permit in Latvia will be required to know the national language, as concluded by Prime Minister Evikas Siliņa (JV) in the above statement.
Silina pointed out that the coalition agreed to advance relevant amendments to the Immigration Law in order to apply the conditions for knowledge of the national language to the group identified in the ST verdict, who obtained Russian citizenship earlier, but for whom knowledge of the language was not required until now.
Photo: Freepik; illustrative
Tags: Conceptually supports amendments requiring knowledge state language thousand Russian citizens
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