PETROPAVLOVSKIS v. LATVIA JUDGMENT 3 grade. These schools also had to ensure that the curriculum relating to minority language, identity and culture was taught in the minority language (transitional provisions, paragraph 3). 10. In November 2003 the applicant applied to the Naturalisation Board (Naturalizācijas Pārvalde) seeking to acquire Latvian citizenship through naturalisation. On 1 December 2003 he passed the naturalisation exams (see paragraph 29 below). 11. The Naturalisation Board examined the documents submitted by the applicant and, finding that he met the requirements of Articles 11 and 12 of the Citizenship Law, included his name in the list of candidates applying for citizenship. The list was attached to the draft decision on granting citizenship and transferred to the Cabinet of Ministers for final decision. 12. On 16 November 2004 the Cabinet of Ministers decided to strike the applicant’s name out of the list, thus refusing his application for naturalisation. 13. On 30 November 2004 the Naturalisation Board informed the applicant of the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers. 14. On 7 December 2004 the applicant instituted administrative proceedings against the Cabinet of Ministers. He asked the Administrative District Court (Administratīvā rajona tiesa) to “obligate the Cabinet of Ministers to take a decision on admitting him to Latvian citizenship”. The applicant stated that the decision regarding admission to Latvian citizenship was an administrative act and could not be regarded as a political decision. He considered, inter alia, that a person fulfilled the obligation of loyalty if he met all the requirements of the Citizenship Law and unless any restrictions stated in the Law could be applied to such a person. He considered that the refusal to grant him citizenship was unlawful; in accordance with the principle of equal treatment, his views could not constitute grounds for a refusal. He stated that his name had been struck out of the list owing to his participation in the political party “For Human Rights in United Latvia” (“Par cilvēka tiesībām vienotā Latvijā” – “PCTVL”) and to his public statements. The PCTVL had nominated him to run for office as mayor of Riga, but the refusal had denied him the right to stand for election in the local municipal elections and had been politically motivated. 15. On 10 December 2004 the applicant gave an interview to a journalist from the daily newspaper Lauku Avīze. His answer to the question whether he hoped to win the case before the domestic and international courts was reportedly as follows: “If I wanted to gain political power, I would have been naturalised a long time ago and would have been elected to [Parliament]. The chances of winning a case in a court in Latvia might be fifty-fifty. But I do not need that. Frankly speaking, we need a broad international scandal. With my case of citizenship we’ve achieved that, and, additionally, [we’ve got] a broad public relations campaign for the PCTVL for free.”