Two members of Latvia’s parliament have been fined by a language watchdog for not speaking Latvian “to the extent necessary” in the performance of their duties.
Jefimijs Klementjevs and Viktors Pučka of the pro-Russian ST! (For Stability!) party were penalized by the State Language Center (WC) after receiving complaints about the lack of Latvian being spoken by six ST! politicians.
Four of these politicians passed after being summoned for a language test by the WC; however, Klementjevs flunked his test and was issued with a fine after it was found he was not using Latvian “to the prescribed extent.”
Viktors Pučka, meanwhile, was fined for failing to comply with the request of an official after reportedly failing to turn up for his test.
In a separate incident in 2022, four MPs were summoned for a test, among them Klementjevs and Pučka – that time, all were fined after not showing up.
Aleksejs Rosļikovs, the chairman of ST!, told the LSM news portal that the MPs had not acted maliciously and hinted that the actions of the WC were the result of a politically motivated witch hunt.
Madara Reke, the head of the WC's language control department, admitted that the organization was incapable of imposing anything other than administrative fines on politicians that failed to comply with the State Language Law.
In principle, that has meant that politicians failing to speak Latvian can repeatedly avoid being tested yet remain in office provided they pay a fine.
Four of these politicians passed after being summoned for a language test by the WC; however, Klementjevs flunked his test and was issued with a fine after it was found he was not using Latvian “to the prescribed extent.”
Viktors Pučka, meanwhile, was fined for failing to comply with the request of an official after reportedly failing to turn up for his test.
In a separate incident in 2022, four MPs were summoned for a test, among them Klementjevs and Pučka – that time, all were fined after not showing up.
Aleksejs Rosļikovs, the chairman of ST!, told the LSM news portal that the MPs had not acted maliciously and hinted that the actions of the WC were the result of a politically motivated witch hunt.
Madara Reke, the head of the WC's language control department, admitted that the organization was incapable of imposing anything other than administrative fines on politicians that failed to comply with the State Language Law.
In principle, that has meant that politicians failing to speak Latvian can repeatedly avoid being tested yet remain in office provided they pay a fine.
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