An estimated 10,000 people took to the streets, demanding a shake-up of the political scene. The protests degenerated when several hundred young men confronted riot police, broke windows and overturned cars. Police responded with tear gas and charged at them with batons.
The worse outbreak of violence in Latvia since August 1991, when the country gained independence from the former Soviet Union, is considered as a direct consequence of the world economic crisis, which has hit the Baltic country hard. Last December, Latvia received a 7.5bn euro IMF-coordinated aid package, but the economic situation continued to deteriorate.
The economy of Latvia, which joined the EU in 2004, was once the fastest-growing in the European Union, but it has undergone a dramatic reversal in fortunes and is expected to shrink by five percent this year.
Many blame the centre-right government of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis for the country's woes. President Valdis Zatlers has stepped up criticism of the government in recent months, but he has stopped short of threatening to dissolve the legislature.
In recent months, public opinion has increasingly demanded that the people be given the constitutional right to dissolve parliament through referenda.
Zatlers admitted that the global financial crisis had badly affected Latvia.
"Sadly, we woke up too late. We could see the financial mess that was an obstacle in our path, but it was too late to avoid it […] It has been said that Latvia is currently experiencing one of the most dramatic operations for the rescue of a financial system in the history of modern Europe," Zatlers told MEPs.
MEP accuses Latvia of language discrimination
Meanwhile, Latvian MEP Tatjana Zdanoka used the occasion of her president's address to highlight increasing levels of anti-Russian language discrimination in Latvia.
Wearing a T-Shirt bearing the slogan 'Stop Language Repressions', Zdanoka lashed out at Zatlers for supporting laws that blatantly discriminate against Russian speakers, who make up one third of Latvia's population.
"With the active support of President Zatlers, Russian speakers are being excluded from many jobs, and from accessing government services. This is morally reprehensible, but is also economic madness given the challenges we now face," Zdanoka said.
The Council of Europe recently slammed Latvia for its failure to grant so-called "non-citizens" (ethnic Russian residents of Latvia) the right to vote at local level (EurActiv 03/01/09).
With contributions from agencies.
