拉脱维亚就俄语成官方语言全民公投

Citizens in the European nation of Latvia are voting in a referendum Saturday to decide whether to make Russian the country’s official second language.

欧洲国家拉脱维亚的民众星期六进行全民公投，决定是否要让俄语成为拉脱维亚的第二官方语言。

Although the second-language referendum is seen as having little chance of passing, the question has triggered a heated debate between the country's large ethnic Russian and Latvian populations.

虽然就第二官方语言进行的全民公投获得通过的机会不大，但这个问题在该国众多的俄罗斯人和拉脱维亚人之间引发了热议。

When the former Soviet Union broke apart in 1991 and Latvia regained independence, most of its Russian-speaking citizens chose to remain in the country.

在前苏联1991年解体而拉脱维亚恢复独立时，大部分讲俄语的民众选择留在拉脱维亚。

And even though the government in Riga offered them citizenship, some Russian speakers, such as swimming instructor Viktor Saltikov, say their voices are not being heard.

即使里加政府给予这些民众拉脱维亚国籍，但是一些像游泳教练萨提科夫这样讲俄语的人说，政府没有听取他们的声音。

Saltikov says Russians would feel better if their language was made official. He says Russians are not going to vanish from Latvia, no matter how much some people would like them to.

萨提科夫说，如果俄语变成官方语言，俄罗斯人会感觉好一些。他说，不管一些人多么希望俄罗斯人消失，他们是不会从拉脱维亚消失的。