Proposed amendments to Latvia’s citizenship law, including lifting the restriction on allowing exiles to have dual citizenship, have been scratched by the Cabinet of Ministers, according to media reports.

After an Aug. 24 meeting with representatives of the ruling coalition’s political parties, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told journalists in Rīga that because of a lack of support the cabinet will not push the amendments any further.

One of the amendments would have automatically granted Latvian citizenship to newborn children even in cases where one of the parents was not a citizen.

Another amendment would have lifted the restriction on exile Latvians and their descendants seeking to renew citizenship. Until 1995, it was possible for exiles to register as Latvian citizens and still keep their other citizenship.

The conservative For Fatherland and Freedom (Tēvzemei un brīvībai, or TB/LNNK), one of parties in the coalition government, announced a week ago in a press release that it opposed the legislative package. TB/LNNK objected to the provision that would allow automatic Latvian citizenship for newborns. However, according to the TB/LNNK press release, the party did support letting exile Latvians become dual citizens.

In a related matter, a Latvian family in Germany is awaiting an Aug. 28 ruling by Latvia’s Supreme Court on whether they should be allowed to register as citizens without giving up their German citizenship. Baiba and Viktors Strunskis, along with their daughter Rauna sued over an Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (Pilsonības un migrācijas lietu pārvalde, or PMLP) decision that their Latvian passports, issued by Latvian consulates in exile before the country regained independence, are not proof of Latvian citizenship.

The Strunskis family has been told that in accordance with the current citizenship law, they will have to renounce their German citizenship before they may become Latvian citizens. The law no longer allows dual citizenship.

The family is asking the Supreme Court to overturn the PMLP decision.

In observance of the 20th anniversary of the 1989 Baltic Way demonstration, the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have signed a joint declaration supporting a call to make Aug. 23 a European day of commemoration for victims of both Stalinism and Nazism.

Meeting in Vilnius, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansips, Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius put their names to the declaration that also notes the renewal of their countries’ independence in 1991 led to a new era of cooperation between the Baltic states, according to a press release from Latvia’s Cabinet of Ministers. The leaders pledged to strengthen their ties with the European Union and the NATO defense alliance.

“Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will continue to jointly work to preserve historic memory and for the honest and open awareness of totalitarian heritage in 20th century Europe,” according to the Aug. 23 declaration.

On Aug. 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression treaty called the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The treaty included secret protocols that led to the Soviet occupation of the Baltic republics. The Baltic Way demonstration, in which an estimated 2 million people linked hands in a human chain spanning Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, was a protest organized on the 50th anniversary of the pact.

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the establishment of a European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism “in order to preserve the memory of the victims of mass deportations and exterminations, and at the same time rooting democracy more firmly and reinforcing peace and stability in our continent.”

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), in a July meeting in Lithuania, adopted a resolution that equated Stalinism with Nazism and gave its support to setting aside Aug. 23 as a day of commemoration.

Russian officials reacted negatively, walking out of the meeting. The Russian Foreign Ministry and the State Duma called the OSCE resolution insulting.