“Tautiešu mēnesis 2006,” two weeks of activities aimed at informing Latvians at home and abroad about each other, kicked off Sept. 1 with the announcement in Rīga of the 12 winners of a children’s drawing and youth writing competition.

The competition, with a theme of “Ceļš uz mājām – tuvs vai tāls?…” (The Way Home: Near or Far?), began several months ago in Latvian communities abroad. Community organizations and ethnic schools ran local competitions in drawing, for children ages 3-10, and in writing, for youth ages 11-17. The competition was sponsored by the Secretariat of the Special Assignments Minister for Social Integration and by the World Federation of Free Latvians.

Winners of the writing and drawing competition are Maiga Benke, 12, of Russia; Māra Bredovska, 15, of Canada; Kārlis Daenke, 11, of Australia; Elizabete Kolbjera, 7, of Sweden; Paula Leite, 7, of Ireland; Artjoms Muhins, 8, of Russia; Nadīne Ozoliņa, 9, of the Netherlands; Sigruna Sārta, 6, of Belgium; Anna Eglīte Soerensen, 9, of Denmark; Ariana Ule, 11, of the United States; Alma Ulmane, 10, of Belgium, and Laima Ziedars, 14, of Australia.

They were congratulated by Ilze Stobova, an advisor to Prime Minister Aigars Kalvītis; Integration Minister Karina Pētersone; Kristīne Vāgnere, director of the secretariat, and Jānis Kukainis, chairman of the World Federation of Free Latvians.

The competition winners and their parents are participating in a number of cultural activities and excursions, including visits to the open air ethnographic museum in Rīga and to Sigulda, Turaide and Līgatne. The winners’ work was scheduled to be exhibited on Sept. 2.

Other highlights of “Tautiešu mēnesis” include a conference for Latvian youth, “Mēs – latvieši pasaulē,” which runs from Sept. 3-6; a forum for leaders of Latvian community organizations abroad from Sept. 7-10; presentation of the findings of a research project on Latvians abroad on Sept. 7; and a cultural program from Sept. 11-13. The activities conclude with the annual meeting of the World Federation of Free Latvians from Sept. 13-15.

Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, in an interview with Latvian State Radio, said citizens should be required to vote, according to the LETA news agency.

A number of countries have compulsory voting laws, including Belgium, which claims the world’s oldest such regulation.

The right to vote is a foundation of democracy, the president said, adding that the alternative is dictatorship and chaos. Latvian citizens should not say their vote does not count, the president said.

LETA noted a mid-August survey by the Rīga-based research company SKDS, which found that 12 percent of those surveyed said they did not plan to vote in the Oct. 7 parliamentary election. Another 24 percent said they were undecided for whom to vote.