"Judging by the unwillingness of Latvia's leadership to reconsider the plans of the assimilating in its essence education reform, other recent decisions and actions of the official Riga that testify that the Latvian authorities do not wish to seriously adjust their approaches to issues that predetermine discrimination of the country's minorities, observance of ethnic minorities' rights in Latvia needs the most careful attention of the international community," the department's statement reads.
Russia, as almost all European countries, proceeds from an assumption that human rights and rights of ethnic minorities cannot be considered as domestic affairs of a country, the ministry pointed out.
The Latvian President's interview with the Latvian radio included once again the idea of "repatriating" Russian-speaking citizens from the country, the statement recalled.
At the same time, the stand of Latvia's Russian-speaking organizations and polls of its population show that most Russian-speaking citizens of the country consider it their motherland.
"Russia respects this stand and urges the Latvian leadership to acknowledge it as an indisputable fact," the ministry said.
