largest countries. these sorts of diseases with. us have been trying. to get a job. where it's taken. in moscow these iraqi headlines to spare and the will to police may start peaceful student protests at a california university as the national crackdown on the occupy movement steps up. italy gives final approval to its new prime minister tasked with bringing order to the country's finances while in spain voters prepare to pick the leader they hope will be their natural savior. thousands of egyptians back in tahrir square calling for the military to relinquish its rule after a controversial paper poses to make its power

a permanent. next the latest in our series of special reports on the fate of former soviet states twenty years after the union's collapse this time but. it seems blanched used independence day it's pomp and fanfare of any other public holiday in the country on this day the republic's top leaders gathered to lay flowers and the freedom monument in latvia scarcer riga. informal events like torture sessions were held in the evening of the same day people who see themselves as the country's true patriots marched through streets closed to traffic for the occasion the perceptions old and eyes by the radical nationalist party known as or from much fear. however many people don't

identify themselves with the festivities they are russian speaking residents who make up nearly forty percent of the country's population half of them have not yet received citizenship rights. flemmi lindemann is a columnist for several months in newspapers you'll soon base to gates cases of public interest and publishes reports on them but even though vladimir holds a lack in passports he's technically not a fully fledged citizen of his own country. not with the passport cover bears a unique inscription that order written in latvian it says your passport of a non-citizen was a reserve was more on the minute here in the english translation it reads aliens

personality and of course sometimes we are called just that aliens like we are from another planet or even full of you point of international law we are considered as such are present there are something like four hundred thousand such people in latvia that of so use of. mansfield became an independent state in one nine hundred ninety one after seceding from the soviet union. barely one month later the country's parliament passed a resolution officially dividing the republic's population into citizens and so-called non-citizens. the latter were denied voting rights they could not be elected to bodies of state authority or work in government departments. this applied to not only those who settled down in the country after nine hundred forty but their descendants take. them your truth is i don't want to be a second class person i want to be a citizen of the country where live leave. any known citizen is free

to try to naturalize that they need to pass exams on the country's history and show their command of the state language and the national anthem if after submitting all the necessary papers applicants then need to wait for about a year before they get a cherished citizens passport. you many people fail to go through the procedure. that to me lindemann one was not even allowed to see those exams. for the past five years and i spent three of them outside lot of fear that's why they didn't accept my papers but that excuse was absolutely unlawful. my fight for citizenship rights never. let even stage a sit in in this building i spent the day here and refused to leave it after office hours then the police force me out.

it was a time when victims they're going off and the third test and valdis sackless a trauma surgeon who worked in the same hospital. now sackless his latvia's president go to the north is a member of latvia is anti fascist committee. u.s. was supposedly did well i can't bear to see the revival of naziism in libya i can see it with the naked eye would upsets me most of all is that so-called democratic europe closes its eyes to the revival not as a group or the word was. on march sixteenth nineteen forty three during the second world war the lack finn legion was formed. thousands of volunteers in the country signed up to fight for the nazis. off independence every year on this date legion veterans have been officially committed to hold a parade in central riga. in two thousand and five

victims are going off and several other anti fascists clad in prison right stood in the way of marching legionnaires. the police dispersed all the anti fascists and let the s.s. veterans put the flowers at the freedom monument. crosses the. we believe in a free country fascists and their followers have no right to bring flowers to assume full of the state if the state doesn't see itself as a nationalist want. to steal our actions were in line with the united nations resolution calling for resistance to all forces that promote the waffen s.s. . officer with. some fourteen thousand veterans living in latvia today for what's in the soviet army during world war two

. if kenichi convinced there was a paratrooper event. as he moves to the monument commemorating the soviet soldiers who lost their lives in the war he make sure the nobody sees his medals. a law passed back in one thousand. and she one bans the public display of soviet symbols . and the attitude to us is just a bowman about her birth. was even a case where a uniformed veteran riding on a bus on victory day had to leave because the driver stopped the bus and said he wouldn't budge unless the man's that go ahead. with. the monument to soviet soldiers in riga was blown up in one thousand nine hundred eighty it was later restored the act had been lost minded by ego siskind he was sentenced to a brief time in prison. now he's again free to walk about

central riga together with his son and openly discuss the fate of the monument. it's a myth that some people this is a monument to me it's a disgrace to the latvian nation. the polish nothing of it should be simply pulled down symbolizing that we are no longer occupied. in the year when the good shishkin blew up the monument another event occurred that caught the world's attention. former soviet parses unfasten kononov had been brought before a latvian court to face criminal charges face actions in world war two he did it toward this is the order of lenin they gave it to me for blowing up sixteen german trains when i was a partisan issue krishna traditional. in modern latvia the x. parties and was declared an enemy and spent almost two years behind bars for taking

part in the killing of local volunteers they were helping the germans. kannan of was acting on of the situation taken by parties and tribunals in one nine hundred forty three. when radical nationalists came to power after the regime change their lackeys started a massive campaign against info fascists of people who had fought in the entire hitler coalition they were all to review the outcome of the war edition in order to whitewash naziism and fascism as usual for she is a. ivers guard that is lead a political organization called the national front of latvia the front publishes a newspaper founded by him. that weekends and during public holidays volunteers hand out free copies to anyone willing to read the paper. its name contains three d's they stand for d. or q patient colonise ation and d.

russification. for a long time dr goddard taught ethics at the academy of culture some of his former students are regular contributors to the newspaper. now under their chief editor's guidance they spend no effort in a bid to oppose what they call russian dominance in latvia feel as though ethnic latvians make up fifty percent of the population of their own country the other fifty percent are occupiers that's about russian. it's necessary to create uncomfortable conditions for there we need a situation where latvian society rejects occupiers moreover we need a law on the whole is asian we must say to each of them we give you a deadline to get out of your son. cameron north a british filmmaker decided to make a personal investigation into the into ethnic relations between russians and that

fiends. in short a documentary called latvia and hitler's footsteps way draws uncomfortable parallels between present day latvia and nazi germany. but it's also. the word. of the circle. they must go to. the rebirth of the. board. some things that they would like to say it's nationalistic that the the languages of the things they were thinking that they had to speak. the things about rights and not fear if you're not a citizen and called subsets of. the combination of things where you are discriminated against because your impure. your reality saves mother

is latvian but his father is russian he has a perfect command of both languages. he received an excellent education both as an engineer and as a journalist his son is a school people. papa tell me what the sentence means. is often i feel lost when he tries to figure out his math textbook it's written in latvia. the internet translator says it needs headlines well yes that's a possibility. a country schools were formed in the middle of the past decade. russian textbooks were hastily replaced with latvian ones now more than half of the subjects in russian language schools are supposed to be taught in latvian. the oath grew whenever a russian teaches with a pull command of the levee in language teach such difficult subjects mathematics

physics and chemistry were to russian school children if it brings misery which are both teachers and students with you committed within you to need. in the course of education reform nearly all old textbooks were revised and many russian language schools closed down. protest acts had no effect the decisions of latvia's education ministry were final. so far inspectors haven't shown up in many russian schools and all subjects is still taught in russian. matfield language textbooks approved by the education ministry can be seen in full view but they are only for show. militia cough is the first russian mayor of riga since independence twenty years ago he too had to close schools down including schools for russian speaking students but it didn't lead to any actions of protest in that instance schools were

shot soley for economic all round the demographic reasons half of the classrooms in one third of all schools had no people's. mortgages. many of the decisions taken by the previous mayor were largely politically motivated that was the basis for decisions about whether schools should be closed down rules because when we merge schools we make a great deal of effort to accommodate all the children in the new building we also do all we can to retain jobs for the teachers i was most but in the old days they just closed schools down and that was that there was the previous and. the fact that the russian was elected mayor of the latvian capital in the summer of two thousand and nine surprised many politicians analysts put it down to the economic crisis. those who had felt it. soviet impact we're not taking as much notice of the nationality of a politician as they used to. mislead. if in the early one nine hundred ninety s.

they had not made the mistake of dividing the people into citizens of unknown citizens the were the politicians would have been compelled to talk about the economy social issues and structural reforms instead of harping on the theme of lab the ins and russians every two or four years we were much and we would have been able to deal with pressing issues much earlier and much more efficiently or personal have to contend with economic issues corruption and many other things. despite its small size there was schools of major industrial plants and soviet latvia. three of them which employ between ten and fifteen thousand workers each specialized in electronics. another one made minivans which were used as ambulances throughout the soviet union. today their production line stand idle.

factory workers and engineers going into small business. plan to be as highly skilled professionals have left the country in search of a job. thank . you well for the cool things technology innovation and all the things developments from around russia we've got the future covered.

under the soviets this factory provided jobs for twelve thousand workers it made radio sets radio cassette plays and tape recorders to cater to the needs of people across the soviet union. by the late one nine hundred eighty s. several plans making radio an electronic equipment had been set up in latvia they were the soviet union's most advanced enterprises with a middle of the go over in soviet times i worked in a similar trade for about fifteen years before the break up of the soviet union in europe there were close to eight hundred employees in the design bureau where i myself was employees of the i have now you can see what's left of its former

splendor the only one design a working you know. when lanphier achieved independence the republic's government began closing down its industrial giants. the new regime expected more compact and mobile enterprises to replace the old sluggish and largely outdated soviet factories but they were never built in adequate numbers. during the first five years of independence many enterprises were turned into scrap metal levy or sold off cheap in lived off the money real estate and land were also soldiering this time which was a somewhat bigger source of funds during another five year period of less virulent alliance just before the country joined the european union and avalanche of capital and low interest credit came here when they were not meant to develop production instead they were channeled into land in real estate as a result wind up in this situation.

similar process is were going on in agriculture under the soviet government latvian collective farm supplied the republic with basic food stuffs today half are imported. he is from spain is a mothers of from the netherlands. or from spain with the cucumbers from the netherlands to. be hard put to find a mystically produced vegetables here true danger in pineapples don't grow. were already being grown in latvia when the netherlands did not yet exist. after the declaration of independence the latvian government downsized agriculture and ventured on individual farms land belonging to collective farms was given back to former owners all their descendants under restitution plan. but most of them

simply didn't bother to get into the difficult business of farming and instead prefer to sell off the newly acquired land mortgage it. just busting your legal have been abandoned in the farm stands have already abandoned about sixty percent of them as young people of keen to go back to the countryside here some get an education others find a job center good grant to make commitments that. the village of qana billy is in let's go. one of the country's poorest regions local peasants used to regard themselves almost as urban dwellers they lived in france with all modern amenities and now one in every two flats is vacant. but the local boiler house plants doesn't work the few people who still live here have to heat their homes with firewood.

sometimes i fetch firewood once a day sometimes i do it twice a day and then i don't do it for three or four days my grandchildren give me a helping hand when they were little i would bring firewood by cart and he has five children none of them live in latvia now they are trying to make money in the west and europe. and faeces spends her pension to feed her grandchildren she likes talking about her big family which is now scattered around the world the couple this is my daughter to give me a love that's. in the field. and here is a good lama and your company in the idea is my granddaughter. and i went to london to work there she left these little things in my care this boy was one year old and that one was in the third grade. their dad's god knows where so i raise them on my

own. people have no jobs towns and villages are becoming deserted pigsty isn't cowsheds are collapsing and the fields overgrown with weeds. this is how the morning began victoria more than a month until two thousand and eight. flats in a nineteenth century building in the old parts of riga was once considered prestigious but where you young people are spent on the move be paid back of course . after latvia declared independence old houses were given back so they form a onus on their restitution plan. they were quick to realise that managing an apartment house was difficult selling a building itself was easy but dealing with tenants was the main hurdle. a standard

solution was that the new owners simply made sure that the building fall into a state of total disrepair and then its tenants were evicted under a court ruling. today three years later there isn't any electricity in the house where victoria used to live she gave up and rented a small flat in a new building but school i have to visit and i only department regularly to see if everything isn't because the landlord has had it is breaking in and replacing the locks on the door. i also take some of my doom goods with me. the tenants of the house have seen the landlords only once since they filed a lawsuit against him in two thousand and six so far their attempts to win their case have been unsuccessful the landlord lives in germany he came to latvia for the first time to receive a properties are difficult. thanks. the land in central riga is

the most expensive in the country. this huge trading center is the private property of a norwegian building company. it buys the most profitable pieces of land in latvia and builds hotels and supermarkets there. for us now is the best time to invest has been very profitable. for but they also have what they call the grey economy so that's not really showing up on this that this that. after lengthy and join the european union in two thousand and four the economist started to warn of a new threat. they maintained that they were public might lose its economic sovereignty . about seventy percent of its farmland belongs to foreign investors they country's fiscal system depends on foreign banks. you wouldn't get a gauge here today scandinavian capital controls some seventy or eighty percent of

the country's banking capital in damascus means it controls just as much of its financial system of regrettably the nation has lost its ability to work in manufacturing things that it was allowed to do when latvia was on the point of leaving the soviet union it was one of its most advanced territories with zero debts the blue and gold today the picture is the oldest son the brother got a king. in january two thousand and nine mass protests when the latvian capital. of the world economic crises had a huge impact on the country's economy people demanded the resignation of the government when it couldn't stabilize the situation. moreover pensions look cuts as well as salaries and social donations.

he says bullshit of the crisis is the result of the country's split into twenty years ago people used to come here that's why after the nation plays no part in the country's life goal or otherwise this is one cause of the deep crisis we're going through and could use one with a group who work in. according to european statistics land that is the poorest country in the european union today. as local nationalists look to blame russian speaking nonresidents people are leaving the country in large numbers in search of a better life. matthews population has shrunk on more than fifteen percent since independence according to latvia's foreign policy institute e.c.s. some twelve thousand people leave the country for good. the u.k. is their most popular destination. the british

filmmaker cameron north described the problem in his documentary. with a lot of things coming to the u.k. . firstly one of the things is that economy left. in life now is much harder for good living partly because nationalism the i'm mad about nash's and love them growing economy another reason is that they get very good social rights in the u.k. . it's now been twenty years since latvia jeev sovereignty. but still independence day its most celebrated holiday and the freedom monument its main national icon aliant the heart of the country's population.