Frunda went on to fault Latvia for not feeling like a "wealthy country in terms of many ethnic and national groups" -- an obvious misdescription of which he must have been aware since he only raised the Russian issue in Latvia. He criticized the government for "requiring" visas from non-citizen residents who travel to European Union countries, although that requirement is not a Latvian one, and is a normal one for the destination countries to pose. Citing an unnamed Latvian politician's alleged lament that the pace of naturalization is too fast, Frunda construed it as reflecting general opinion, apparently ignoring the government's, parliament's, and all mainstream parties' support for the fastest possible naturalization, based on the relevant law which is one of Europe's most liberal. In his interview's conclusion, Frunda's tenor turned almost prosecutorial: "You have had 15 years and what have you done? Your progress in this regard has been too slow. You must now find a solution in a short period of time" (Latvijas Avize, October 17). � That assessment contradicts head-on the findings of the European Union and the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities. Chas, the most aggressive among leftist-Russians newspapers in Latvia, was delighted, though apparently not surprised: "Frunda's visit, as we had written already, became a real sensation. After many visits by European officials who contented themselves with general phrases, agreeing with Latvia's legislation, Frunda has made truly revolutionary statements...astonishing in their severity" (Chas, October 19). � President Vaira Vike-Freiberga apparently did not mince words in correcting Frunda during their prescheduled meeting. The press release pointedly said, "The president urged Frunda to base his notions about Latvia on the real situation, the constitution, and the laws." Furthermore, it cited Vike-Freiberga as "pointing out unambiguously to Frunda that the status of Latvian as single state language in Latvia is non-negotiable," and that this approach serves to promote the integration of society (BNS, October 19). � For his part, Minister of Foreign Affairs Artis Pabriks "called on Mr. Frunda not to base his information on secondary sources"; and reminded him that Latvia's legislation on citizenship and Russian-language education compares favorably with such legislation in many old democracies in Europe (BNS, October 19). Social Integration Minister Ainars Latkovskis commented, "As a Hungarian from Romania, Frunda has a very personal angle. He finds it difficult to understand that the situation in Latvia totally differs from that in Romania. His views are based on information received from certain left-wing politicians" si.e., local Russian politicianst. Concurring, Education Minister Ina Druviete remarked that Frunda had acquired those views ahead of his get-acquainted visit. These officials pointed out -- as did the president -- that Latvia's existing legislation is designed to promote effectively the shared goal of integration� (Latvijas Avize, October 18; Integration Monitor, October 19, 20). � Concurrently with Frunda's visit, Csaba Tabajdi, a Socialist member of the European Parliament from Hungary (and, earlier, a Hungarian Communist Party official), attended a congress of the hard-line Russian organization, Congress of Russian Communities in Latvia (OKROL) and urged it to persist firmly in pursuit of its agenda (Chas, October 15; Telegraf, October 17). The overlap of these visits may have been coincidental, or may possibly signal an incipient attempt to marry two agendas of minority-rights advocacy in international organizations. � Copyright: Eurasia Daily Monitor, Jamestown Foundation

Vladimir SOCOR