Latvia vote poses question on Russian as EU language

A referendum on making Russian an official language in Latvia has raised a faint possibility of it also becoming an official language of the EU.

The country's Central Election Commission (CEC) itself predicts the poll, on 18 February, will be a non-starter. A CEC spokeswoman, Kristine Berzina, told EUobserver on Tuesday (14 February) that "the level for the vote is so high it will never happen."

According to the rules, half of all eligible voters in Latvia - 1.5 million people - m...