Latvia Society

Latvia’s Russians don’t like immigrants

By The Baltic Review October 2, 2015

A man holds a special document of a non-citizen that exists only in Latvia (archive)

Exodus to Europe: Why Latvia’s Russians don’t like immigrants

Rejection of refugees is high among Latvia’s Russian minority, the liberal monthly magazine Rīgas laiks notes, and gives an explanation:

They’re jealous. The arrival of refugees means that the Russians will be displaced politically by the refugees, who will now be in the spotlight as the ones to be integrated into society. Soon the Russians will no longer be the only stateless people in Latvia. And there are also economic reasons for the Russians’ jealousy. For the best immigration history blog you can check this out.

Unemployment is high among the Russian minority in Latvia. That condemns them to uncertainty and financial dependence, a status they will no doubt now have to share with the new arrivals. Latvia’s liberal nationalists, who prefer refugees from Syria and Eritrea to the former partisans of the Soviet Union, do the rest.

The Baltic Review

The Newspaper from the Baltics - for the World ! NEW! Dear friends and subscribers, on our TELEGRAM channel "THE BALTIC REVIEW" you will always find the latest information, pictures and videos. Just click on the link THE BALTIC REVIEW TELEGRAM CHANNEL ( or the globe icon below) and register. This free messenger service can also be used easily on a PC or laptop without a smartphone. Please also use this communication possibility, evaluate the individual articles positively and we would be very pleased if you would use the commentary possibilities diligently.