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associations with Russian popular culture: historical nostalgia for Soviet-era
films and television shows, and simplicity in narration. 287
The Russian music market in Latvia is directed primarily at Russian-speaking
audiences. Several commercial radio stations broadcast Russian music daily,
thereby sustaining its permanent presence in Latvia. These include Mix FM, Hiti
Rosii, Jumor FM, Europa Plus, Radio PIK, Novoe Radio, and SWH+. 288
An important music-related venue is The New Wave, a contest for performers of
popular music that was founded in 2002 by the Russian composer Igor Krutoy
and the Latvian composer and pianist Raimonds Pauls. The festival is hosted in
Jurmala, a coastal resort popular with Russian tourists since the Soviet era.
Representatives of most of the post-Soviet countries participate in the contest. 289
The New Wave is broadcast in Russian on one of the biggest Russian television
stations: Rossiya-RTR.
The commonly used title for this programme is “Russia’s young performers’
competition in Jurmala”. The symbol of the festival is a wave in the colours of
the Russian flag. Jurmala municipality’s local businesses, restaurants and hotel
owners earn money, but for the Latvian audience the competition creates
negative emotions as it has associations with the Soviet times. Moreover, the
staging of this competition has been repeatedly used to make offensive remarks
about the Latvian language and awkward jokes centred on singing the Latvian
national anthem and the use of Latvian costume. Historical experience
sometimes causes an emotional response to jokes made by Russian
representatives, whereas the same jokes made by Lithuanians or Estonians would
not have such a negative reaction among Latvians.
4.5.2 The Russian Orthodox Church
The Latvian Orthodox Church forms part of Russian culture in Latvia due to its
semi-autonomous position within the Eastern Orthodox Church under the
jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow. It is the third biggest church in
Latvia, with approximately 370,000 members in 121 parishes. 290 According to
Nils Muiznieks, the Orthodoxy in Latvia is an important social phenomenon and
serves as a means for Russia to exercise its soft power. 291 Orthodox values can be
a source of soft power. In recent years, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has
become an active actor in Russia’s foreign policy. That is not to say that the
287 Ibid.
288 Ibid., p.174.
289 Pelnens G., [ed.] (2010): op cit., p.175.
290 On reports that religious organizations provided for the Latvian Ministry of Justice during the year
2010, see http://www.tm.gov.lv/lv/search/pareiztic%C4%ABgo%20skaits.
291 Muiznieks N. (2011): Latvian-Russian Relations: Dynamics Since Latvia’s Accession to the EU and
NATO. Riga: University of Latvia Press, p.63.
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