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THE left-leaning Harmony party won first place in Latvia’s elections today — but it is unlikely to be able to form a government.
Harmony is a member of the Party of European Socialists, but its voter base is strongest among Latvia’s ethnic Russian minority, who make up 25 per cent of the former Soviet republic’s population. As a result, rightwingers have accused it of being a “Trojan horse” for Russian interests in the European Union.
Harmony was in first place with 19.8 per cent, followed by the right-wing KPV and New Conservative parties on 14.1 and 13.6 per cent.
Latvia’s Russian minority complain of widespread discrimination, with up to a third still denied citizenship. A new universities law due to come into force next year will ban instruction in Russian even at private educational institutions, although it remains legal to educate people in any of the 24 official EU languages.
