Russia’s Foreign Ministry noticed “attacks on Russian language” in Baltic states 72 15.09.2014, 15:49

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Moscow has announced its intention to defend Russian-speaking population in the Baltic states from imaginary opression.

Konstantin Dolgov, Russian Foreign Ministry's Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, has addressed the world community with a request to defend the rights of Russian-speaking population of Latvia and Estonia. He said that at the regional conference of Russian compatriots of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on September 13, “Ukrainskaya Pravda” reports.

“We will not be tolerant of the creeping aggression against the Russian language we are observing in the Baltic states. We consider the known moves of Latvian and Estonian authorities aimed at clamp down on the status and position of the Russian language, flagrant violations of human rights,” Dolgov said.

He stated that he finds intolerable the fact that representatives of ethnic minorities in the Baltic states do not have an opportunity to communicate in Russian with the authorities, and also use their mother tongue in topographic names.

“More than 50% of the population living in the major Latvian cities, are Russian speaking according to their ethnic make-up. It is a blatant fact of connivance to grossest violations of human rights right in the heart of civilized Europe!” Dolgov noted.

Besides, the official slammed the policy in the sphere of citizenship in Latvia and Estonia.

“As before, the problem of massive absence of citizenship in Latvia and Estonia remains still acute… We demand the world community to determinedly put pressure on Latvian and Estonian authorities, in order to eradicate this shameful phenomenon from Europe forever,” Dolgov said.

In addition, the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern over “the growth of Neo-Nazi and xenophobic sentiments in Europe”, giving examples of the developments in Ukraine after “the anti-constitutional coup” and “military seizure of power.”