LATVIA….

Parliament moved closer to offering citizenship to children born in Latvia after 1991 of non-Latvian parents. A third and final reading of the bill is scheduled for June 15. The central issue of the debate is likely to be whether competence in the Latvian language is to be required of candidates for naturalization. Russian speakers with little or no Latvian constitute close to half the country’s population, and few are Latvian citizens. If the parliament fails to vote on naturalization before the summer recess begin on June 19, the government may call a special session.