A delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited Latvia from 10 to 14 June 2024 as the first step in the preparation of a monitoring report. During the visit, ECRI’s delegation gathered information on effective equality and access to rights; hate speech and hate-motivated violence; and integration and inclusion.

In Riga, the delegation held meetings with representatives of the national government and local authorities, the Ombudsman’s Office, and civil society organisations.

The delegation also went to the city of Jelgava, where it held meetings with the mayor and other representatives of the local authorities, visited the NGO Centre and the One Stop Shop providing integration and inclusion services to non-EU nationals, refugees and asylum seekers.

Following this visit, ECRI will adopt a report in which it will make a new set of recommendations on measures to be taken by the authorities to address racism and intolerance in the country. The implementation of two priority recommendations will be reviewed within two years after the publication of the report as part of ECRI’s interim follow-up procedure.

In its previous report on Latvia, among other recommendations, ECRI recommended the Latvian authorities to establish a comprehensive data collection system for hate crime incidents (§23) and to promote and facilitate LGBT awareness-raising and tolerance campaigns in schools (§102).

For more information on previous ECRI reports on Latvia, please visit ECRI’s country monitoring page.