Russian speakers in Latvia may have finally won their battle for Russian to become a second state language.

Preliminary results from a petition show the necessary number of signatures have been collected. All that remains now is for the papers to be checked, according to Central Election Commision Chairman Arnis Cimdars.

The adoption of Russian has been a hot topic for discussion over the past month.

But Russian-speaking resident Denis Peganov said it was not a declaration of war between Latvians and Russians:

“I would prefer it if it did not happen but other European countries have one, two or four official languages, so why not?”

Some Latvian speakers fiercely disagree.

Valija Dzaiani said: “It is good to live in Russia. It is such a rich country but they all come here! And when they are here, they want to set their own rules and eliminate us. I can’t even talk calmly about it. It is awful!”

The final results will be presented in about three to four weeks.