Country Report: Latvia June 2026
- Vladimir Kovtun | Genocide Watch
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
Latvia Country Report
June 2026
By Vladimir Kovtun
Latvia has a long history of foreign rule, most notably under the Russian Empire (1721-1918) and the Soviet Union (1940-1991). This longstanding sociopolitical connection with Russia has created serious animosity between Russians and Latvians, primarily because of Russia’s Russification policy and Soviet era repression of dissidents.
Latvia’s history during World War II (WWII) continues to affect the country today. During the war, about 140,000 Latvians joined the Latvian Legion, an SS unit that fought against the Soviet Union. However, due to Latvia’s collective memory of the Soviet Union, many Latvians have recontextualized legionnaires as national heroes. Many Latvian narratives emphasize that members joined to fight for an independent Latvia and claim, despite being an official SS unit, the legionnaires had no part in the Third Reich’s campaign of extermination against the Jews. This selective denial of Latvian involvement in the Shoah reconstructs and minimizes Latvia’s WWII history. To this day, many Latvians annually commemorate the Latvian Legion on March 16th during the Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires celebration, which focuses on recognizing the Legion’s resistance to the Soviet Union. Latvia does not celebrate the day as an official government holiday, but it grants participants much more freedom than most other European countries provide to Nazi-sympathetic rallies.
Upon gaining independence from the Soviet Union, Latvia’s government prioritized revitalizing Latvian culture and asserting Latvia’s independence from Russia’s influence. Latvia established a policy denying automatic citizenship to those whose families moved to Latvia while it was a part of the Soviet Union, requiring them to take a language and loyalty test. This mainly affected the country’s sizable Russian minority, which makes up 23% of Latvia’s population. Some of these non-citizens adopted Russian citizenship, and in the wake of the outbreak of the 2022 Ukraine War, Latvia has decided to deport those Russian citizens who did not pass a Latvian language exam. Additionally, the Latvian government moved to end Russian language education. Latvia reformed its citizenship policy in 2019, providing automatic citizenship to the children of resident non-citizens. However, Latvia’s policies on resident non-citizens continue to run counter to the spirit of the Framework Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, which legally compels European Union (EU) member states to guarantee full rights and freedoms to their minority communities.
Russia has been exploiting Latvia’s history and citizenship policy for its own propaganda aims. Russia has claimed that Latvia is aggressively imposing a Nazi cult and uses Latvia’s citizenship policy to allege the country is committing a campaign of discrimination against Russians. Russia’s own information campaign is reminiscent of its campaign before the war in Ukraine, and it is not rooted in fact.
Beyond issues concerning Latvia’s Russian minority, in October 2025, the country’s Parliament voted to withdraw from the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, which provides international protection for victims of domestic violence. Latvia’s opposition and parts of its ruling coalition that voted on the measures cited the Convention’s promotion of “radical feminism based on the ideology of gender”. Though Latvia’s President sent the bill back to the Parliament, effectively stopping the measure, the vote marked a concerning setback for women’s rights in the country.
Due to the country’s barriers to citizenship for certain members of its population, Genocide Watch considers Latvia to be at Stage 1: Classification. For its denial of Latvian involvement in the Shoah, Latvia is also at Stage 10: Denial.
Genocide Watch recommends:
The Latvian Government should provide automatic Latvian citizenship to all residents born on the territory of Latvia.
Latvia’s government should reinstitute Russian language education as an option for Latvia’s Russian-speaking minority.
The Latvian government should place a stronger emphasis on the Shoah in the country’s education, including explicit instruction on the crimes committed by Latvian collaborators.
