Latvian identity

A country in the heart of Europe, and a member of European Union is about to reject in a popular referendum the right of the third of its population to preserve its culture and speak in the native language. We are talking about Latvia and its 26.9% minority Russian population:
"Latvians go to the polls Saturday to decide whether Russian should join Latvian as an official language of this Baltic nation, in a referendum that is inflaming ethnic tensions more than two decades after the former Soviet republic regained its independence.

Russian speakers, who make up about a third of Latvia's roughly 2 million people, say they often feel like second-class citizens in a country where many ethnic Latvians still harbor deep resentment over their country's absorption by the Soviet Union during World War II.

"We are not just visitors passing through, or strangers, or occupiers," said Vladimir Linderman, head of one of the groups backing the referendum, For the Native Language. "Our goal is to demonstrate our readiness to fully participate in the public life of Latvia, with equal rights."

The pro-Russian measure is almost certain to fail by a wide margin. But campaigning in the run-up to the referendum has fueled a sharp polarization in politics and divided society, leading to sharp debates and souring relations between Russian speakers and other Latvians.

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has urged people to vote "no," saying that "the status of Latvia's core values is not questionable." Politicians further to the right portray the referendum as part of a broader struggle for power by Russians intent on undermining Latvia's freedom."

My comments:
1. Arabic, alongside Hebrew, is the official language of the State of Israel, but complaints that Israel discriminates against its Arab minority seem (at least to me) to generate a lot more attention than similar abuses against Russians in Latvia.

2. The argument of the Latvian prime minister parallels the Israeli government insistence on preserving the "Jewish character" of the State of Israel in case of any possible peace agreement with the Palestinians - the statements for which this government is routinely criticized.