The Latvian parliament has again rejected a proposal to allow Russian non-citizens to hold Latvian passports, which would enable them to take part in municipal elections.
The plan, put forth by a left-wing party supported by many ethnic Russians, was blocked by Latvian nationalists during heated exchanges in the legislature. A number of international human rights groups have called on Latvia to improve conditions of Russians and other minorities with non-citizen status living in the country. Of the 2.3 million people living in the Baltic State, 400,000 do not have Latvian citizenship.