Every second Latvian has faced language discrimination 0 13

The portal pietiek.com, citing the website latvijasdrosiba.lv, published excerpts from a study conducted by sociolinguist Vineta Skuiņa, attempting to prove that it is Latvians who face linguistic discrimination. Here are the main conclusions drawn by the researcher based on the results of her anonymous survey:

"It is surprising that about half of all critical incidents show signs of linguistic discrimination due to the use of the Latvian language, meaning that every second Latvian has encountered a situation that is discriminatory or contains signs of linguistic discrimination. This is explained by 1) the increased demand in the labor market for proficiency in the Russian language; this situation is created by the non-fulfillment of laws that strengthen the position of the state language; 2) the increase in the proportion of those who do not know the Latvian language (after obtaining residence permits and the high demand for low-paid workers in the national economy, for example, in construction, public catering, logistics, the proportion of immigrants from Ukraine and other former USSR republics has increased); 3) a reverse model in language choice, where it is not the national minorities that adapt to speakers of the state language, but rather the representatives of the state nation who more often adapt themselves; 4) a late revelation (epiphany) of many residents—only after the onset of the full-scale war of Russia in Ukraine—about the long-standing Latvian linguistic discrimination that has existed in Latvia and the undesirability of bilingualism in society."