Ministsry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia
Riga, Latvia
July 10, 2006
From 11 to 14 July 2006, the travelling exhibition National Minorities in Latvia – Then and Now will be on view at the European Parliament’s building in Brussels.
The exhibition reflects the ethnic situation in Latvia’s territory over the centuries and shows the development of the traditional minorities of Latvia. It highlights the minority policy of pre-war Latvia and shows the ethnic composition of the Latvian citizenry before the Soviet occupation in 1940. The exhibition shows the role of the traditional minorities in the political, social, and cultural spheres in the period between the two world wars. It also reveals the changes that have occurred as a result of Latvia’s occupation by two major powers as well as the current situation in the area of naturalization of non-citizens and societal integration.
The exhibition has been prepared at the initiative of Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks by the former head of the office of International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Latvia, Ilmars Mezs, and by Juris Ciganovs, the Deputy Director in charge of research at the Latvian War Museum. The project has also been supported by the Head of the Naturalization Board, Eizenija Aldermane.
To date, the exhibition has been displayed in Latvia, Belarus, the United Kingdom, and Austria.
