Russia to Ask for Assessment of Latvian Bill Banning Foreign Names

The Russian Civic Chamber will address the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks asking to provide the public assessment of the Latvian bill allowing only Latvian names for children, the chamber's First Vice Chair of the Board of Directors Yelena Sutormina said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — By September 1, Latvia is expected to begin to examine the bill obliging parents to give their children only Latvian names.

"This is a clear violation of international law, in particular the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Today, we…will send an appeal to the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muiznieks asking for their public assessment of this document," Sutormina told RIA Novosti.

She added that more than 500,000 Russians currently lived in Latvia.

The Civic Chamber of Russia is a public organization coordinating interactions between NGOs and the authorities.