Two PACE members-Erik Jurgens of the Netherlands and Finland's Kimmo Sasi-have spent two days in Riga to see the situation for themselves. Whatever problems Latvia may be having with its ethnic minorities, it needs no assistance to settle them, the visitors said to newsmen.
Latvian authorities recently determined to switch tuition of basic disciplines in ethnic minorities' secondary schools into the Lettish language. That issue is no exception, and to intervene from without means only to turn the matter from bad to worse. Ethnic Russians are strong enough to stand up for their own interests in Latvia, stressed the parliamentarians.
They look forward to an efficient dialogue on the ethnic minorities educational reform, and expect it to be the greatest success between Latvia's Education Ministry and teachers, pupils and their parents in Russian-language schools.
Latvia's new government is eager to improve that dialogue from what it was previously. The trip convinced Messrs. Jurgens and Sasi of that.
As the PACE spokesmen acknowledged, the initiative of their visit belonged to Russia. They aim to draw a report on the situation of ethnic minorities in Latvia-in particular, the reform of ethnic Russian schools.
The PACE will proceed from what they say as it intends, toward April's end, to debate the tentative need for international monitoring resumed in Latvia after it stopped, January 1, 2002.
Erik Jurgens and Kimmo Sasi visited two ethnic Russian schools in Riga to talk to students and teachers. They also contacted the country's top officers, and activists of ethnic minorities public organisations and research and culture societies.
