Latvia considers voting rights for EU citizens

RIGA - A bill amending the municipal election law that would allow European Union citizens residing in Latvia to vote and be elected in municipal elections has been submitted to the Latvian government.

The law would apply to EU citizens holding permanent residence permits in Latvia and is part of the country's process of harmonizing its laws with EU laws.

Opposition parties have argued that the law would slow down the naturalization process because the country's 550,000 non-citizens, who are currently barred from voting in municipal elections, would have one less incentive to naturalize.

Several international organizations, including the Open Society Institute, and some EU politicians have urged Latvia to pass legislation that would give non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections. The proposal also stirs up strong feelings regarding the status of Latvian.

Nils Muiznieks, director of the Center for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies, said the issue will be heavily debated in Parliament.

"I am for EU citizens and non-citizens voting in municipal elections.," he said. "This is not a clear cut human rights issue. This is a political issue."

Latvia's EU negotiators hope to conclude all necessary negotiations with the EU by the end of this year and join by 2004.

Head of the EU negotiations secretariat at the Latvian Foreign Ministry Eduards Stiprais said it was an EU requirement to give EU citizens the right to vote and be elected in municipal elections.

"This does not come as a surprise for our politicians," he said. "It is not a formal request to give non-citizens this privilege."

The right-wing For Fatherland and Freedom party decided at a party congress recently to take a firm stance against any propositions which might alter the status of Latvian as the state language. Members of the party agree, however, they could make an exception when it comes to EU citizens.

"On this issue we can only speak of EU citizens, not non-citizens living in Latvia or people with another status. If we're speaking of non-citizens we have to take into account how we historically ended up in this situation," said Janis Gailis of For Fatherland and Freedom. "I still acknowledge that Latvia was occupied (by the Soviet Union), and if we take this as a starting point, non-citizens (of Russian inheritance) are either descendants of military personal or they are civil occupants."

Gailis said that non-citizens' only options for equal rights in Latvia is to go through the naturalization process and learn the state language.

The proposal has yet to lay out specific qualifications regarding eligibility to vote or run for office.

"What's going on right now are negotiations and not direct amendments and demands concerning EU citizens' right to vote and be elected in municipal elections here," said Gailis. "I don't think anyone would object to this, but there have to be specifications on how long the person has been living in his/her municipality before the person can vote. I have studied the legislation of many EU member states and the rules on this topic differ a lot from country to country."

Amendments to the Latvian constitution are needed to enact new voting rights.