By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

MOSCOW — Voters in Latvia on Saturday overwhelmingly rejected a plan to adopt Russian as a second official language, defeating a constitutional referendum that underscored the ethnic and political tensions that remain more than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“The vote on a second state language endangered one of the most sacred foundations of the Constitution — the state language,” the Latvian president, Andris Berzins, said in a statement after the vote. “I would also like to think everyone who, despite the emotions and impassioned atmosphere which were conjured up by the referendum, mai...

By NICLAS ROLANDER | FEBRUARY 17, 2012

A Latvian vote on Saturday on whether to make Russian the country's second official language has reignited a debate around the role of the language in Latvia.

Opinion polls have shown a majority opposing the proposal, and it is widely assumed it won't get the support from 50% of eligible voters it would need to pass, but some are concerned the vote could increase tensions between Latvians and the country's ethnic Russian minority.

Liga Stala, a Latvian who works as an office manager in the capital, Riga, for the Green Party, says she will vote against the proposal, in line with the party's view. Her main concern, she says, is how the country will move forward after the referendum, which has already stirred a lot of emotion.

"The most important thing is what will happen on Sunday, and how we will keep on living and working on integration without holding any grudge...

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"Latvian businessman Viesturs Koziols, who already owns a 51 percent stake in the joint-stock media company "Diena", has acquired 47.86 percent shares in the newspaper previously owned by the Rowland family, according to an announcement made by ''Diena'' today.

Thus, Koziols now controls 98.86 percent of ''Diena'' shares.

On the other hand, the magazine ''Ir'' reported today that Koziols could lose his shares in ''Diena''. Koziols previously took out a EUR 2.7 million loan from "Rigas tirdzniecibas osta" (Riga Commercial Port, RTO) to purchase the newspaper's shares.

RTO's board chairman Ralfs Klavins confirmed that the loan has not been repaid according to the loan agreement, thus RTO has the right to take over the shares in the newspaper.

''We are trying to find a solution to this situation. At the moment, RTO has no...

By Aaron Eglitis - Jan 3, 2012 9:07 AM ET

Latvians will vote in a referendum on whether to add Russian as a second official language on Feb. 18, Leta reported today, citing the Central Election Commission.

At least 771,893 votes, or more than half of the total that voted in the parliamentary elections on Sept. 18 last year, will have to be cast in favor of adding Russian for the measure to be adopted, Leta said. The referendum was called after a signature drive that gathered support from 187,378 citizens, or 12.1 percent of those that voted in the previous election, the Riga- based newswire reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Eglitis in Riga at aeglitis@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net