Dual citizenship, other amendments move closer to approval by Saeima

Andris Straumanis | 

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 | 

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.

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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.

Latvia’s beach volleyballers poised to advance

Viesturs Zariņš | 

Latvia’s beach volleyballers are off to a great start at London in the preliminary round of 24 teams playing in 6 groups. Both pairs won their first two games and are in a good position to advance to the next round.

Ruslans Sorokins (b. 1982) and Aleksandrs Samoilovs (b. 1985) are ranked 13th and defeated 7th-seeded Poland in three sets after losing the first. They had a much easier time with South Africa winning in two. They now face the 4th ranked duo from the USA on August 1. That should be a treat for Latvian fans in Canada and the United States because the game will be televised. It starts at 4:30pm local time or 11:30am Eastern.

Meanwhile 14th ranked Martins Plavins (b. 1985) and Janis Smedins (b. 1987) also came through big disposing of an 8th-ranked German pair in three sets and Venezuela in two. They face the 5th-seeded Dutch a day later on August 2.

The preliminary round will finish on August 2. The top two teams in each of the six groups advance.  They are joined by the top two third place teams. The remaining four third place teams then compete for the final two places. From that point on it’s winner takes all as the sixteen qualifiers drop to eight, then to four and then to the two finalists.

Samoilovs and Plavins played together going into the 2008 Beijing Olympics where they beat the heavily favoured Americans in the preliminary round and then made it to the round of 16 before losing. Plavins and Smedins won bronze in the 2010 European championships.

As for other action, Latvian fans have to bide their time as the bulk of their athletes have yet to compete. Not so in neighbouring Lithuania which is basking in glory at the surprise 100m breaststroke gold win by 15 year old teenager Ruta Meilulyte. Now based in Britain, she stunned the sporting world and catapulted to instant fame. Basketball-crazy Lithuanians momentarily forgot about their team which stumbled in a opening loss to Argentina but then defeated Nigeria and could still go far. Like Latvia, Estonia also hopes to pull in a few medals but there’s nothing to report yet.

Latvia does not have a tradition of excellence in any summer discipline so predicting medals is difficult. One group to watch is the team of four Latvian BMXers. Led by Beijing gold medalist Maris Strombergs who is still considered an elite cyclist, they will compete from August 8-10.

The Games are over for a number of Latvia’s athletes. Road cyclist Aleksejs Saramotins finished 56th, Dimitrijs Trefilovs finished 38th in men’s gymnastics, Konstantins Ovchinnikovs lost to a Brazilian in judo, Matiss Burgis made it to the second round of table tennis before bowing out and Uldis Kalnins, who, despite coming in 2nd in his 100m freestyle swimming heat, placed 30th overall and did not advance.