Dual citizenship, other amendments move closer to approval by Saeima

Andris Straumanis | 2012. gada 2. August

Changes to Latvian law allowing dual citizenship for people living abroad—including exiles and their descendants as well as recent emigrants—are a step closer to approval by the Saeima.

The Latvian parliament’s Citizenship Law Amendments Subcommittee (Pilsonības likuma grozījumu apakškomisija) has agreed to language that would enable a broad range of persons to become dual citizens, which under the current law is not allowed.

The subcommittee approved the amendments during a July 31 meeting, the Saeima Press Service announced in a news release. The legislation (Nr. 52/Lp11) now heads to the Legal Affairs Committee (Juridisko lietu komisija), where it must be reviewed before a second reading can take place in the full Saeima. The parliament resumes its work when the autumn session begins Sept. 4.

“Working with experts and interested parties, the subcommittee has managed to agree on changes to the law that reflect today’s situation and resolve the most fundamental challenges,” said MP Ingmārs Čaklais, chair of the subcommittee, according to the press service. Čaklais did not respond to an email seeking further comment.

The amendments would allow dual citizenship for persons who have become citizens of countries that are part of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association or the NATO defense alliance. That covers most of Europe as well as Canada and the United States. The amendments also would allow for dual citizenship for people in countries with which Latvia has treaties recognizing it.

Latvian exiles and their descendants also would be allowed to become dual citizens. The current Citizenship Law included a provision that allowed them to reclaim Latvian citizenship until July 1995. Since then, however, the law generally forbids new dual citizens.

Persons who through marriage or adoption have become citizens of another country also would be allowed to retain their Latvian citizenship.

In other individual cases, dual citizenship would be allowed by the action of the Cabinet of Ministers, according to the proposed amendments.

The amendments also call for a child to become a Latvian citizen no matter where they are born, as long as one of the parents is a citizen.

The changes to the Citizenship Law are part of legislation first proposed last year by MPs from the Unity (Vienotība) party during the 10th Saeima and reintroduced in November by the 11th Saeima’s Legal Affairs Committee. Technical corrections to the amendments were proposed by the Ministry of Justice and in December received backing from the Cabinet of Ministers.

The debate over dual citizenship, as well as overall reform of the Citizenship Law, has continued for several years and has been heightened by continued emigration from Latvia as well as renewed interest from the exile community. Former Justice Minister Gaidis Bērziņš gave strong support to the renewal of dual citizenship when he spoke to a March conference devoted to the issue of Latvian citizenship in the 21st century. Culture Minister Žaneta Jaunzeme-Grende, visiting the recent Latvian Song Festival in Milwaukee, Wis., heard from Latvian-Americans that they eagerly await the amendments, according to spokesperson Ieva Līne.

The subcommittee also agreed on somewhat controversial language regarding children born to noncitizens, of whom an estimated 312,000 live in Latvia. Under current law, children born to noncitizens can become Latvian citizens only upon application by their parents. The proposed amendments would allow parents to designate their child as a Latvian citizen at the same time as the birth is registered, but they will have to promise to help the child learn the Latvian language and acquire respect and allegiance to Latvia, according to the Saeima Press Service.

Still to be debated, according to the press service, are several points, such as language requirements for ethnic Latvians and Livs who live abroad and wish to become Latvian citizens, as well as rules regarding revocation or renunciation of citizenship. Those issues would be addressed before the third and final reading of the legislation.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Latvian among volunteers helping in Olympics

Andris Straumanis | 2012. gada 1. August

About 70,000 volunteers are among the people who are having a hand in the 2012 London Olympics, and at least one of them is a Latvian.

London-born Pēteris Pētersons is helping out as one of the Games Makers, he told Latvians Online in an email.

More than 240,000 people applied to be Games Makers and interviews were held with 100,000 of them, according to the official website of the London Olympics, london2012.com.

Volunteers, according to the website, have been part of the Olympics since they were first used in the 1948 London Olympics.

Pētersons, among other things, also is known as the bass player in the dormant Latvian-British punk band Arvīds un Mūrsitēji.

Pēteris Pētersons is among 70,000 volunteers helping during the 2012 London Olympics. (Photo courtesy of Pēteris Pētersons)

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Fairies of Latvian music present sweet sounds on debut mini-album

Andris Straumanis | 2012. gada 30. July

While only seven women are seen in official band photos such as this, Sus Dungo in fact consists of eight performers. (Publicity photo)

Sus Dungo’s debut mini-album, Rasā pēdas, includes eight tracks.

For me, part of the fun of listening to Sus Dungo’s debut mini-album, Rasā pēdas, is the memory of using social media to track down band member Kate Pāvula at a vintage fair in Rīga this summer.

With the album not yet available in stores, Twitter was the way to locate her, chat for a bit and get my hands on the compact disc. Even without that personal connection, the album is pure joy.

Sus Dungo has carved out a niche in the Latvian music scene with its dūdiņroks or “fairy rock” style that fits in well with Rīga’s new hipster community. While the term dūdiņroks might suggest light or even saccharine fare, that’s not what the band offers. Sus Dungo lays down intricate tracks that pull the listener through each song. Yet it is music sweet enough that, after hearing it, one feels good and wanting more.

Sus Dungo began in late 2007 as a duet between Pāvula and Diāna (Sus) Čepurnaja. The band now includes eight young women: Anneli Arro on djembé, cajon drum and shakers; Marika Arro on bass guitar; Elizabete Balčus on flute and metallophone; Čepurnaja on voice, acoustic guitar and banjo; Liene Dravniece on accordeon and voice; Elizabeta Angelika Lāce on harp; Pāvula on voice and violin; and Marta Trofimova on electric guitar and ukelele. Careful media consumers might jump to point out that in photos and music videos only seven performers can be counted, but Pāvula confirmed in an email that Sus Dungo does in fact total eight. Čepurnaja has been studying abroad and that is why she is not always visible.

(Balčus also has recorded on her own. Her six-track EP Wooden Horse was released late last year. For more information, visit elizabetebalcus.com.)

Categorizing the band’s dūdiņroks music can prove difficult. Accordeon, harp and flute often dominate the music, while the voices at times feature strong solos, at other times something akin to a small choir. Sus Dungo’s profile on the music website ReverbNation suggests the band sounds like artists such as Björk, Katzenjammer, or Florence and the Machine. However, the Latvian group is neither as odd as Iceland’s Björk, nor as raucous as Norway’s Katzenjammer, nor as clarion as England’s Florence and the Machine.

Rasā pēdas begins with the dreamy “Atspulgs” (Reflection), which starts out with the sounds of accordeon and harp. As the track builds, the ebb and flow of the song is a good introduction to Sus Dungo’s style.

Next is the mini-album’s title track “Rasā pēdas” (Footprints in the Dew), followed by the jazzy “SQP,” featuring bird sounds and Balčus playing the flute. “Mier loul” (Sea Song), the title of which is in the Livonian language, is a simple instrumental highlighting Lāce’s harp. “Tēta darzā” (Dad’s Garden) speaks of the sanctuary that is a father’s garden.

My favorite track is “Jasmīna lietus” (Jasmine Rain), perhaps because it is one of the tracks not previously heard as a single or YouTube video.

The mini-album concludes with “Balle ar Viegli,” with lyrics drawn from the work of poet Imants Ziedonis. The song muses about a beautiful dance here on earth and the thought that it is a reflection of an even more beautiful one going on in heaven. The song was recorded with members of the Viegli Fund, an effort by Prāta Vētra’s Renārs Kaupers and other Latvian creative types to support projects that reveal the country’s beauty.

My only “complaint” about the CD is its length. The eight tracks amount to just 35 minutes of listening. Of course, the recording is billed as a mini-album and not a full-fledged release, but I am left wanting more of Sus Dungo.

For more on Sus Dungo, visit the band’s website at susdungo.lv, its Facebook page or its page on the draugiem.lv social network.

A pleasant half-hour video of the band performing at the Piens Club in Rīga can be viewed on Vimeo. The concert includes both covers and Sus Dungo’s original songs. Videos may also be found on Sus Dungo’s YouTube channel.

Rasā pēdas should soon be available in Rīga stores and online through eKase.lv, according to Pāvula.

Details

Rasā pēdas

Sus Dungo

Sus Dungo, 2012

Track listing:

Atspulgs

Rasā pēdas

SQP

Mier loul

Tēta dārzā

Jasmīna lietus

Laiks

Balle ar Viegli

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.