RIGA, Latvia (AP) - Recession-weary Latvia awoke Monday to an altered political landscape, with an ethnic Russian party scoring a major victory in both European Parliament and municipal elections.
Nearly complete results from the Central Election Commission indicate that the center-left Harmony Center, a party mainly made up of ethnic Russians, won over one-third of the votes in Riga, Latvia's capital and largest city.
In the European Parliament ballot, Harmony Center won two of Latvia's eight seats, while another pro-Russia party gained one. By contrast, four years ago pro-Russia parties obtained only one seat in the EU legislature.
Analysts say that by throwing support behind Harmony Center, a party with social democratic views, crisis-plagued Latvians opted to give some new faces the chance to rescue the country from a severe recession.
Latvia's shift to the left contrasts with the overall trend in Europe, where many voters showed a preference for conservative parties. Latvia is currently undergoing a severe economic crisis, with gross domestic product expected to plunge 18 percent this year.
Though they currently have representatives in Parliament and municipalities, Harmony Center and other pro-Russia parties have mainly been shut out of power, since Latvian parties regard them as a threat to independence and try to circumvent them while forming coalitions.
About one-third of Latvia's 2.3 million people are ethnic Russian, but many are still considered non-citizens since they moved to Latvia while it was occupied by the Soviet Union after World War II.
There are currently some 350,000 non-citizens, who do not have the right to vote, and this remains a thorny issue in relations with neighboring Russia.
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