[autom.vertaling] Parlementariër die voor de steun van Russische rechten wordt ontslagen (en)

A Latvian MP, accused of betraying his country's national interests, has been deprived of his observer seat in the European Parliament by the Latvian Parliament, the Saeima, in Riga.

Socialist MP Martijans Bekasovs, who joined the GUE (European United left and Nordic Green) group in the European Parliament, circulated a letter to MEPs mid-September about minority rights in Latvia.

In the letter, Mr Bekasovs said that non-citizens in Latvia, the vast majority of them Russian, cannot get jobs and cannot learn Latvian as there is no money put aside for them.

Mr Bekasovs also noted in his letter that the status of the Russian language is being undermined.

Russian is the native language for around 60% of inhabitants in Riga as well as the eastern region of Latvia, Latgale, says the letter.

However, this language has not received the status of a second official language and is called "a foreign language", stresses Mr Bekasovs.

In the letter, he also referred to the education reform that aims to gradually increase teaching in Latvian at secondary schools.

According to Mr Bekasovs, children of non-Latvian origin will be forced to learn "only in state language [Latvian]" from September 2004.

These statements caused heavy criticism in Latvia.

Reactions in Brussels

The first official reaction came from the Latvian ambassador to the EU, Andris Kesteris. In his response, on 23 September, Mr Kesteris stressed that the Russian language is freely used and the "Russian minority has every opportunity to participate" in the country's cultural life as well as civil society.

Mr Kesteris also dismissed Mr Bekasovs' announcements about the planned education reform. He said Latvia has many state-financed schools for national minorities where children are taught in their native languages - but that the Latvian parliament in 1998 decided to gradually increase teaching in Latvian to help these children to integrate into society.

"The law guarantees that [even after the reform] at least 40 percent of the total subjects [taught at school] remain in the minority language", says Mr Kesteris, adding that plans to introduce the reform on September 2004 have not been changed.

Saeima's vote

Mr Bekasovs' colleagues in the Latvian parliament, the Saeima, chose less diplomatic rhetoric, accusing him of "anti-state" actions.

The conservative and nationalistic party "For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK" particularly stressed that Mr Bekasovs' letter contains incorrect information about the situation in the ex-Soviet republic - set to join the EU in May 2004.

Therefore, they conclude, he should be the last to go to Brussels "acting as if he represents the interests of Latvia", said one member in a heated debate on 30 October.

As a result, the majority of parliamentarians decided to halt Mr Bekasovs' mandate as observer to the European Parliament. The vote was 64 to 22 in the 100-seat Saeima.

What's next?

However, what was decided in Riga appears to be in contradiction to the European Parliament's internal rules as an observer can neither be changed or removed unless they resign or die, or their mandate naturally expires at the date of formal EU entry, in May 2004.

It is also unclear who will take Mr Bekasovs' post now as his party announced that it would not send another person to the European Parliament to replace him, as he "has spoken the truth".

The chairman of the GUE group, Francis Wurtz, echoed these opinions and protested against the decision taken by the Saeima in a letter he wrote to European Parliament President, Pat Cox.

"He just said what he thinks. There was no misdemeanour involved", a spokesperson for the GUE group told the EUobserver.

This matter is expected to be discussed at a high level in the European Parliament in the days to come.

In the meantime, Mr Bekasovs promises to challenge the Latvian Parliament's decision at the Constitutional Court in Latvia and, if necessary, at the European Court of Human Rights.

He says his freedom of speech has been violated and it shows how little democracy means in the Baltic country.