Such statistics are derived from the fact that around 11,000 employment-starting benefits have been requested from Ukrainian residents in Latvia. “We can safely say that at least 11,000 Ukrainian civilians have entered the Latvian labor market,” Simsone said.
According to her, the sectors in which the Ukrainian people are employed are varied, especially the service sector, production, and others.
When asked about the consequences of the changes to the law discussed by the Saeima, which would oblige Ukrainian residents employed in Latvia to attend Latvian language courses in 2024, Simsone replied that this would not change much, because the Ukrainian people are already quite actively embracing the official language.
“I think the rule of law will reinforce this, but there are no problems at the moment to involve [Ukrainian] people in the learning of official language, they choose it themselves and are very happy to do so,” said the head of the NVA.
More than 35,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Latvia from the war caused by Russia.
