Country profile: Latvia The battle for Latvia's nine seats in the European Parliament tracks the fault lines that riddle a society still grappling with the legacy of Soviet rule.
The powerful New Era Party of former prime minister Einars Repse is intent on making the June 12th vote a referendum on its right-wing leader and his allies, who oppose a shaky minority government headed by a member of the Green Party.
At the vanguard of the left is Tatyana Zhdanok, the "Iron Lady of the Opposition" who went to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn a Latvian constitutional ban on former communists running for election.
The firebrand won her fight, and leads candidates from the For Human Rights in a United Latvia Party, which demands an end to what it calls discrimination against the country's Russians, who make up about 40 per cent of Latvia's 2.3 million population.
About 300,000 of them are also ineligible to vote, having refused to sit or failed a test in Latvian language, culture and history that is compulsory for would-be citizens.
Ms Zhdanok's party is convinced she will win a seat in Brussels, and hopes to take two others. It has pledged to work with other leftist parties from across the Continent to combat what it calls "the dominant right wing in European politics", but will focus on pressing for Russians' rights and getting Russian accepted as an EU working language.
The latest touchstone for disgruntled Russians is a language law that forces state schools to teach most of their classes in Latvian, even in areas where most of the pupils only speak Russian. Some 20,000 people protested against the law on May 1st, as most of the country was celebrating EU accession.
With Moscow's support, Russians in Latvia want their MEPs to lobby for EU pressure to be brought to bear on the government. President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, however, insists that the country already adheres to EU norms on minority rights.
Latvia's Russian community is wary of Brussels, and strongly Russian towns saw an unprecedented run on basic foodstuffs ahead of EU accession, after local media spread fears of rapid price rises after May 1st. They will only be swayed, along with many native Latvians, by proof that EU funds are being properly allocated and spent on improving living standards in the bloc's poorest country.
Most other parties are busy persuading voters that their candidates are best placed to win cash from Brussels and quickly improve lingering Soviet-era infrastructure and services, with many looking to how Dublin milked funding from a perceived "cash cow".
"Ireland should be taken as an example in terms of the ability of the Irish to 'mobilise' after joining the EU, to get all of the financing from the EU's funds," said Prime Minister Indulis Emsis recently. "That is an excellent example of what can be achieved by putting those resources to purposeful use. I have talked to Irish consultants, I know about their strategy and tactics, and I can only admire them for being so smart in adapting to the new situation after joining the EU. Let us not be naïve - Europe will not adapt to us."
Largely rural Latvia is also keen to get its hands on agricultural aid. The allied Green Party and Farmers' Union, which counts Mr Emsis among its members, is set to take at least one seat at the European Parliament.
Leaders of the Farmers' Union admit that consolidation is inevitable in the sector, but have promised to protect smallholders' rights in Brussels while smoothing the adoption back home of EU laws governing quality control of produce.
