Justice Ministry working on a bill reducing use of Russian language in workplaces

RIGA - The Justice Ministry is working on a bill limiting bilingualism, which will reduce the use of the Russian language in workplaces and in public, Justice Minister Janis Bordans (Conservatives) told the Delfi portal.

According to Bordans, the bill is based on the 2012 state language referendum where 74.8 percent of voters voted against Russian as a second state language.

Although the referendum confirmed that residents wanted the Latvian language to be the only official language of Latvia, practical consequences of Russification are such that both Latvian and Russian are used in daily communication, provision of services and also in workplaces, said Bordans.

This despite the fact that all residents of Latvia have the opportunity to use the official language on a daily basis, while in practice, all Latvians are required to know the Russian language in very different situations, Bordans explained.

"This must be stopped, except for certain cases that will be provides in the law. But it is important for society to know that the Latvian language should be used for communication between businesses, as well as for communication in workplaces," said Bordans.

He said that the bill would be reviewed at the Coalition Cooperation Council's meeting in the near future. After that, the bill could be submitted to Saeima.