RIGA (Sputnik) — Latvia’s Justice Ministry plans to hire volunteer “public inspectors” to identify and assist those who do not speak Latvian language, Justice Minister Dzintars Rasncas said.
“We are talking about the protection of state language, which is the symbol of the country. So there should be no special discussion on the matter,” Rasncas was quoted as saying by Latvia's Delfi news website.
According to the minister, the inspectors will be selected based on a strict examination and will need to demonstrate their competency in the Latvian language and in administrative law issues.
Rasncas stressed that volunteers would have no resemblance to “Soviet-style volunteer inspectors.”
Latvian is the country’s only state language. Russian, spoken by some 40 percent of Latvia's population, is considered a foreign language.
