RIGA: Latvians vote Saturday in a referendum on whether to make Russian the second official language of the former Soviet-ruled republic, an issue that has long sparked tensions here.
The numbers are stacked against the Yes campaign, but the plebiscite is seen as a test of relations between the majority ethnic-Latvians and minority Russian-speakers, in a country whose ties with Moscow are rocky.
The Yes camp pitches it as a way to call time on discrimination, while opponents say a No ballot means defending Latvian independence.
The referendum comes in the wake of a snap general election last September where the left-leaning, pro-Russian Harmony Centre bloc topped the vote, lending the Russian-speaking movement new momentum.
But with no party rooted in the Russian community having governed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Harmony Centre was cold-shouldered in talks that saw a centre-right coalition retain power, angering Russian-speakers.
On Saturday, voters will decide on constitutional amendments giving Russian official status alongside Latvian in this European Union and NATO member state.
While some Russian families have lived in the country for centuries, others settled here as Moscow worked to tip the ethnic balance during half a century of Soviet occupation after World War II.
With Soviet citizenship defunct since independence, the settler community's members have had to apply for Latvian citizenship, which means passing a language test. Otherwise, they remain stateless, or have to seek a Russian passport.
"For 20 years my mother has been without citizenship of any state, and she will die with that status," Miroslavs Mitrofanovs, of the small, left-wing and pro-Russian party For Human Rights In A United Latvia, told AFP.
More than 770,000 people -- 50 percent of the electorate -- need to vote Yes if Russian is to win official status. Ethnic Russians form around one third of the population.
Despite the poor odds, Mitrofanovs said the referendum would be a crucial gauge of attitudes.
He said Latvia should look to other EU nations.
"In future a fair solution would be having Russian as an official language in some municipalities. We look to the experience of other European countries such as Spain and Britain, where it took a long time to introduce Catalan and Welsh as official minority languages," he explained.
The vote is taking place as a result of a campaign by the pro-Russian grouping Native Tongue, led by colourful activist Vladimirs Lindermans.
After Harmony Centre failed to win a government slot, the more radical Lindermans seized the initiative with a signature collection drive that was backed by over 10 percent of the electorate.
As a result, Lindermans was able to force a referendum when parliament rejected his proposals in December.
Latvian nationalists claim he is trying to drag the country's name through the mud with the help of the Kremlin, which repeatedly accuses Latvia of racism.
Many ethnic Latvians remember how thousands of their number were sent to Siberia by the Soviets, and Russian was imposed in public life -- making language a red line today.
President Andris Berzins said in a televised address that a Yes would be a "a vote against Latvia as a country."
Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told AFP that Latvian "is one of the fundamentals of the state".
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