Is May 9 an important holiday? Latvians and Russians respond to Latvia

As in the spring 2023 study, the biggest differences of opinion are on whether Victory Day over the Nazi regime in Germany should be celebrated on May 9.

The survey revealed that only 22% of residents of families where Latvian is spoken consider this day to be especially important, while among Russian-speaking families this percentage is 73%.

As for the average temperature in the hospital, in general, Victory Day on May 9 is considered important by 41.3% of the Latvian population. Enough to pretend that such a date does not exist. As a result, May 9 was included in the top 6 holidays that are important for Latvians.

Holidays that are always with you:

1) Most often (80.5%) of the country’s residents surveyed agreed that Latvia should specially celebrate the Day of Restoration of the Republic of Latvia on May 4th.

2) The Day of the Convocation of the Constitutional Assembly on May 1 (56.2%) unexpectedly took second place.

3) Support for European Day, celebrated on May 9, has increased significantly: over the past year the increase was 5.3 percentage points – from 48.5% to 53.8%

4) Fourth place is held by Victory Day over the Nazi regime on May 8. There was also an increase here – by 8.5 percentage points (from 42.6% to 51.1%).

5) In fifth position, according to a population survey, is the 20th anniversary of Latvia’s accession to the European Union, celebrated on May 1 (43.8%).

6) Sixth place was taken by Victory Day over the Nazi regime in Germany on May 9 (41.3%).

7) The 20th anniversary of Latvia’s accession to NATO on March 29 (37.4%) lagged behind May 9 and took seventh place.

8) And finally, in eighth place is the 75th anniversary of the creation of NATO on April 4 (27.0%).

Noteworthy is the absence of the Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia (November 18) from the list of Latvian holidays. Not to mention Ligo, New Year and March 8, which unite all nationalities, ages and genders. Obviously, the survey compilers, for some unknown reason, excluded these dates from the questionnaire.

In any case, it is difficult to believe that the birth of NATO is more important for Latvians and non-Latvians than the Nativity of Christ.

For reference: The study was conducted this year from March 13 to 15 by the Kantar company. The survey involved 1,000 respondents aged 18 to 75 years. The State Chancellery paid 3,110 euros for the survey, excluding VAT.