All the counterfeit banknotes and coins Latvian authorities uncovered last year totaled almost LVL 36,000, according to a list released Feb. 16 by the central bank, but the amount posed no threat to the nation’s economy.

A total of 21,397 fake banknotes and coins were uncovered by police in 2010, according to the Bank of Latvia—a more than fivefold increase from 2009. The most popular objects of counterfeiters were 1- and 2-lat coins.

The increase is largely the result of police uncovering counterfeiting operations, according to a press release from the bank.

Overall, according to the bank, counterfeiting is limited in Latvia because of a number of factors: anti-counterfeiting measures; the fact that the lat is circulated in a small territory; and the work of police to uncover counterfeiting operations. One-seventh of all counterfeit money is uncovered in Bank of Latvia affiliates.

The quality of counterfeit banknotes is low, according to the bank. Last year fake banknotes were made using color printers and photocopy machines, with no attempt to imitate anti-counterfeiting measures such as watermarks.

Of all the counterfeit money uncovered last year, 10,759 were 2-lat pieces and 10,422 were 1-lat coins. Since 1994, the 2-lat coin has remained the most popular object of counterfeiters: a total of 53,666 pieces have been confiscated by authorities.

The rhythm and blues duo Musiqq, perhaps best known for the hits “Abrakadabra” and “Dzimšanas diena,” will represent Latvia in this year’s Eurovision Song Festival in Germany.

The duo, consisting of Liepāja-based performers Marats Ogļezņevs and Emīls Balceris, won the Eirodziesma 2011 national contest Feb. 26 in Ventspils. They beat out popular singer Lauris Reiniks and nine other entries.

Musiqq’s entry in the contest was the song “Angel in Disguise.”

Ogļezņevs previously worked with the group Device, while Balceris has had success in both Latvian and international competitions, according to the duo’s profile on the website of recording company Platforma.lv.

Telephone voting and a jury’s evaluation gave the following results in the Eirodziesma final, according to Latvian State Television:

1. Musiqq, “Angel in Disguise.”
2. Lauris Reiniks, “Banjo Laura.”
3. Pieneņu vīns, “You Are.”
4. Evija Sloka, “Don’t Stop the Dance.
5. D-Family, “Daylight.”
6. Jāņa Stībeļa banda, “Let It Be Me.”
7. Blitze, “Hop.”
8. Elīna Krastiņa, “Look Back at Me Again.”
9. Oksana Ļepska, “Live On!”
10. Ivo Grīsniņš-Grīslis, “Cinderella.”
11. The Secretz, “Summer Night.”

The group Triānas parks resigned from the final because lead singer Agnese Rakovska became ill, state television reported.

The Eurovision Song Contest, won last year by Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut with the song “Satellite,” is scheduled May 10-14 in Düsseldorf. Latvia has participated in the contest 12 times, winning in 2002 with Marija Naumova’s performance of “I Wanna.”

For more on Musiqq, visit the duo’s page on social network draugiem.lv.

It will be up to the Ministry of Justice to work out details of the Latvian government’s proposed changes to the Citizenship Law, and to do so by the end of the year, according to a new action plan approved Feb. 15 by the Cabinet of Ministers.

The plan provides a roadmap to completing more than 950 goals of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis’s coalition government. Among those goals is offering dual citizenship to Latvian citizens who have obtained citizenship in other European Union member states or countries that are partners in the NATO defense alliance.

The government also wants to allow wartime exiles and their descendants to once again be able to register as Latvian citizens without giving up citizenship in their adopted countries. Persons who left the country during the five decades of Soviet occupation also could be eligible for dual citizenship.

The ministry’s deadline, according to the action plan, is Dec. 31.

The Ministry of Justice also is to guarantee that it is represented during meetings of the Saeima’s Law Commission, which has under consideration amendments to the Citizenship Law proposed Jan. 24 by the National Association (Nacionālā apvienība “Visu Latvijai!” – “Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK”).

The Unity (Vienotība) bloc, one of two parties in the coalition government, submitted its proposed amendments to the Citizenship Law on Feb. 17.

The Saeima also is considering changes pushed by President Valdis Zatlers.