Latvia’s parliament now has three proposals on dual citizenship to consider after the Unity (Vienotība) bloc submitted a bill on Feb. 17.

Similar to amendments proposed by nationalists in the Saeima and by President Valdis Zatlers, the latest bill would allow dual citizenship for several groups, including wartime exiles and their descendants who live in countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia.

The bill (Nr: 238/Lp10) was introduced by MPs Dzintars Zaķis, Edvards Smiltēns, Ilma Čepāne, Ilze Viņķele and Dzintra Hirša.

Under current Latvian law, dual citizenship is not allowed. From 1991 to the summer of 1995, under transitional rules enacted by the Saeima, exiles and their descendants were able to register as dual citizens. Since that time, large-scale emigration to countries like Ireland and the United Kingdom, as well as renewed pressure from the exile community, has reactivated the issue of dual citizenship.

Among Unity’s proposed amendments, dual citizenship would be allowed for:

• Latvian citizens who have become citizens of members states of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association or the NATO defense alliance, as well as of countries with which Latvia has international agreements recognizing dual citizenship.
• Exiles who left Latvia between the start of the first Soviet occupation on June 17, 1940, and Latvia’s renewed declaration of independence on May 4, 1990. The provision would lift the restrictions of the Citizenship Law and would also apply to descendants of exiles.
• Persons, and their descendants, who were Latvian citizens before June 17, 1940, even if they became citizens of another country after May 4, 1990.
• Children who are born outside of Latvia and at least one of whose parents is a Latvian citizen, if under the law they automatically become citizens of their country of birth.
• Latvian citizens who through marriage become citizens of another country.

“The amendments are an opportunity to guarantee closer ties to one’s country of origin, motivating Latvian emigrants and their children to return to their or their parents’ homeland,” according to a Unity press release announcing the bill.

The first proposal this year for changing the Citizenship Law came Jan. 24, when the National Association (Nacionālā apvienība “Visu Latvijai!” – “Tēvzemei un Brīvībai/LNNK”) introduced a bill in the Saeima. While the legislation has been referred to the Law Commission, it has yet to have a hearing.

Zatlers in a Feb. 1 letter to the Saeima outlined his proposals for changing the citizenship law. Those proposals are under discussion by the Executive Commission on the Citizenship Law. Both the World Federation of Free Latvians (Pasaules brīvo latviešu apvienība) and the European Latvian Association (Eiropas Latviešu apvienība) have announced their support for the president’s proposals.

On Feb. 15, the government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis approved an action plan for reaching hundreds of goals, including changing the law to allow dual citizenship by the end of this year.

A recent poll by the Rīga-based survey firm TNS Latvia and Latvian Independent Television found that 71 percent of economically active residents of the country support the president’s plan to allow dual citizenship for a broad range of people, according to the newspaper Diena.

Latvia’s interior minister Linda Mūrniece, who has been under increasing pressure since a shootout in Jēkabpils between local police and a gang of police bandits, is stepping down.

Mūrniece submitted her resignation to Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis on Feb. 17.

She has been the minister of the interior since March 2009. During that time, according to an Interior Ministry press release announcing her resignation, Mūrniece has been forced to accept and realize decisions that have been put off for years. The ministry, she added, has been underfunded for years.

“If I have not been able to change anything, then with this step I ask every resident of Latvia to think about their responsibility, to offer advice, to help, to think together and to work together, not just actively criticize,” Mūrniece said.

Following the Jan. 25 shootout, during which officer Andris Znotiņš was killed, calls for Mūrniece to step down escalated along with renewed focus on police corruption. Among those demanding her resignation was the United Police Trade Union of Latvia (Latvijas Apvienotā policistu apvienība), which said it has repeatedly warned about problems caused by low pay and poor working conditions for law enforcement workers.

Dombrovskis has not yet accepted Mūrniece’s resignation, according to Latvian media reports, and first wants to meet with her. Both the prime minister and Mūrniece are members of the Unity (Vienotība) bloc.

Latvia’s foreign minister plans to visit the United States from Feb. 19-23 to meet with government officials—including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton—and the Latvian community in the Washington, D.C., area.

Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis met Feb. 11 with U.S. Ambassador Judith Garber in Rīga to discuss details of the trip, the foreign ministry’s press office announced.

Besides visiting with Clinton, the foreign minister is expected to meet with officials from the Defense Department, the State Department, the National Security Council and the Defense Logistics Agency. Kristovskis also will visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Victims of Communism Memorial, both in Washington.

Kristovskis during the meetings will emphasize the strategic importance of Latvia’s relationship with the U.S. in foreign affairs and security issues, according to the press office. Among questions he will highlight is expanding Latvia’s energy security.

While in the nation’s capital, the defense minister also will meet with Latvian community leaders.

Kristovskis will be joined by Ojārs Kalniņš, a former Latvian ambassador to the U.S. who now is a member of Latvia’s parliament, where he is chair of the Foreign Affairs Commission.