Latvian Saeima bans paid election campaigning in Russian

The Latvian Saeima has adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on Election Campaigning that provide for a ban on election campaigning in Russian

This was reported by the Delfi portal.

53 deputies voted for the adoption of the amendments, 10 were against, and 23 abstained.

"The use of the state language will apply only to paid election campaigning and campaign materials, so parties and candidates for deputies will be able to communicate personally with their voters in another language," said Daiga Mierinja, chair of the Commission on Public Administration and Self-Government.

The amendments stipulate that the state language should be used for campaign materials placed in television programs and radio broadcasts of electronic media, in open and closed public areas, and in periodicals, ballots, books, and other publications prepared by printing technologies.

It is also expected that paid political advertising on the Internet should be in Latvian.

It has also been established that during the period of election campaigning for the European Parliament and municipal elections, these campaign materials may contain translations into the official languages of the European Union member states. In such cases, the use of the state language in both visual and audio materials may not be less than the content in a foreign language.

The Center for the State Language will monitor violations in the use of the state language in election campaigning.

The amendments were initiated to strengthen the position of the Latvian language in the field of election campaigning - in media programs, public spaces, newspapers, and magazines.

Author - Olena Madiak, 22/06/2023