Protesters Meet at Latvian Embassy Ahead of Language Referendum
A small group of nationalists protested against Latvia's language referendum, slated for this weekend, in front of that country's Tallinn embassy on Thursday.
On Saturday, Latvia will vote whether to make Russian its second official language.
The nationalist group called for Latvians to vote against the initiative, reported ETV.
If Latvia were to adopt the measure - which would require half of its 1.5 million citizens to vote pro - Russian would also become an official language of the European Union.
Latvia has about 400,000 native speakers of Russian. But most Latvian speakers will probably not back the initiative.
In September, the political party with the most support from Latvia's ethnic Russian minority - Harmony Center - won the most votes in a snap parliamentary election. But it was left out of the ruling coalition, which includes a nationalist party.
Ott Tammik