On her Facebook page, Riga City Council member Liana Langa is debating with participants in a discussion about whether even a loyal non-Latvian can deserve the title of representative of the titular nation of Latvia.
"Who is a Latvian?
A small reflection: an oak is not and cannot be a birch, a pine is not and cannot be a spruce, a mouse, even if born in a stable, does not become a horse.
Place of birth, time, biological parents, your gender – these are data that you cannot change; they are essential and immutable. Nationality is not chosen. That is why our PMLP, when recording a person's nationality in the passport, is guided by the nationality of the parents and grandparents on both the maternal and paternal sides for two generations.
I also want to advise journalist Mr. Artem Lipin, whom I thank for his cooperation, to familiarize himself more closely with the Constitution of Latvia, which clearly states the division – the Latvian nation consists of the state nation (Latvians) and minorities that support Latvians in their desire to preserve their people, language, and culture. Only under such conditions can one be a representative of a minority!
The problem with liberals, including liberal scholars, is that they fantasize too much, trying to improve and change society, running along the path of illusions and stumbling. Once, in the name of humanity, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra is portrayed by a dark-skinned actress, and then Latvian citizens Khanov, Tokalov, and Lipin believe that by declaring themselves Latvians, they will become Latvians because they want to be part of the nation – the status of a minority representative and Latvian citizen turns out to be insufficient!
If some Latvian learns Japanese, he does not become Japanese!
If some Georgian sings a Latvian folk song, he does not become a Latvian!
Reality is not the product of spontaneous fantasies and desires of individual individuals. Reality cannot be "improved" and changed by altering the meaning of words.
These childish illusions need to be discarded. An oak is an oak, a pine is a pine, a potato is a potato, land is land, and a Latvian is a Latvian."
And can you argue with that?
