In the annotation of the draft law, the President of Latvia states that the adoption of the draft law will promote the further development of a united society based on the common values of the people of Latvia. “Latvia is a democratic and modern European country, and every effort must be made to further develop and strengthen the state of Latvia. The education system in Latvia is capable of preparing and educating decent, honest, and responsible people, who are patriots of Latvia and who have a strong affiliation with the Republic of Latvia,” emphasised Raimonds Vējonis.
He recalls that the status of a non-citizen was introduced as a temporary solution for the transition from an occupied country to an independent Latvia. Following a similar change in legislation in Estonia, new non-citizens are born in Latvia as the only country in Europe, whose status is comparable to the citizens of former USSR, who did not obtain any other citizenship after the collapse of the USSR.
“The termination of the granting of non-citizen status to children is a symbolic step, which would allow stopping deliberate targeting and targeted cleavage of different groups of the Latvian society. Terminating non-citizen status would enable our society to become much more consolidated and dedicate our efforts to the development of our country,” stated the President of Latvia.
After the adoption of the draft law, changes would apply to approximately 50 to 80 newborn babies a year. In 2016, non-citizen status was granted to 52 children.
According to the opinion poll conducted by Public Opinion Research Centre SKDS in May 2017, 76% of Latvia's population supports the idea that the children of non-citizens born in Latvia would automatically become citizens of Latvia at the time of birth unless the parents of the child choose citizenship of another country.
The draft law complies with Latvia’s international commitments undertaken by the Republic of Latvia when ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Every child has the right to citizenship at the time of birth. If the parents do not ensure respect for this right, the state must take care of that.