Thread: Почему распался Советский Союз? Что происходит в Прибалтике, и немного истории

You can't honestly compare a Russian with Somalis or Afghans? And on the language issue, Russian is a European language, and everyone in Latvia speaks it.

Somalis or Afghans take ten years to learn Swedish to a useful level, they can't speak English to a useful level either and in most cases they have no job that is suited for the economy in Sweden. Many of them can't even read or write.

But for what it's worth Valery Kravcov sounds like an arrogant twat.... I personally think he ought to set a good example for his constituency and try learning Latvian. But it's a democracy, so people have a right to vote for him anyway, I suppose. Maybe some of the Russian speakers are beginning to wake up to the idea of democracy and realise that with 40% of the population, their language needs should be better represented.
But with Kravcov: Since everyone is forced to learn Latvian now, he's the last generation of people who will be able to realistically claim he can't speak Latvian. And the law doesn't force anyone to speak with him either. If he's being arrogant about it, they can give him the same treatment and just not speak with him.

I can see from churches, inscription and culture in general that Russians were around in Latvia long before the Soviet era. I think with a small country like yours, in such a strategic crossroads in Europe, it's just unavoidable. Other countries (at least in the past) can't stay away. Neither their generals, nor the people. I think you just have to make the best of the situation. To be very negative or constantly complain about it won't help.

Luxembourg for example is such a country. Their language is really small, and throughout history they are constantly invaded and had plenty of immigration. But they take pride in learning the languages of their neighbouring countries and being friendly and open. As a result they are very prosperous and a very successful country.

I understand that it was a fear in the Soviet days that the Latvian language would just disappear and the whole area would become an extension of Russia. Perhaps that was part of what Moscow politicians were trying to achieve, who knows? The risk of that is gone though.

But obviously, Russian is a much more internationally useful language than Latvian. There will be more books, culture and opportunities for those who can speak it. It seems that Latvia is trying to quickly make English fill that role instead, by constantly pushing English ahead of Russian, ignoring the Russian population.

I have noticed that there are probably more Russian spoken on the streets of Riga, than Latvian. I can understang that this is really irritating for you and that it feels wrong. Yet, what can you do? This is going to make me sound terrible, but the Russians are Europeans, educated, mostly nice and have been part of your country for centuries. I am going to return to Sweden and the terrible immigration problem... Mass immigration into Scandinavia is just such a good example that there is something very dodgy with democracy. Practically nobody wants it, yet it keeps happening, and it's not even possible to protest about it. Like I said, I'd rather have the Russians any day.

I understand that it was a fear in the Soviet days that the Latvian language would just disappear and the whole area would become an extension of Russia. Perhaps that was part of what Moscow politicians were trying to achieve, who knows?

Yes - in 1935 Latvians were 75% of population (Russians were about 10%, the rest were Germans and Jews), but in 1989 only 52% - and if Soviet Union continued to exist for some ~20 years, share would be probably ~40% or less.
That was the reason why we adopted such "apartheidistic" policies.

Practically nobody wants it, yet it keeps happening, and it's not even possible to protest about it.

Allowing Afghans, Somalis, etc to immigrate was Swedish people's decision. We had no choice, because we were told: "Either you accept these immigrants or we send tanks to Riga".
And Latvian families had to wait even 10 years for an apartment, but to immigrants these were given immediately.

I have noticed that there are probably more Russian spoken on the streets of Riga, than Latvian

Of course - Latvians actually are minority in Rīga.

Originally Posted by Hanna

I can see from churches, inscription and culture in general that Russians were around in Latvia long before the Soviet era.

Actually it is. Latvia was a part of Russian Empire after Great Northern War, Russia achieved that fighting not with Latvians.

Peter the Great was a big fan of Riga. He married Latvian Martha Skavronskaya, after his death known as Empress Ekaterina I. Having received a palace as a gift from the municipality of Riga (although he insisted on paying), Peter used to visit Riga regularly. He helped to rebuild the tallest church in Riga (St.Peter's church) after it was burned down, and created a general plan for Riga's development, including planning many parks and boulevards, and planting some trees himself. Riga became an industrialised port city of the Russian empire, in which it remained until World War I. By 1900, Riga was the third largest city in Russia after Moscow and Saint Petersburg in terms of the number of industrial workers and number of theatres.

Wikipedia