Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-12-Speech-4-179"
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"en.20050512.25.4-179"2
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".
Mr President, I am very happy that almost all political groups have joined forces in this Chamber to address this very serious and alarming problem.
In the Russian Federation there are 19 different nations of the Finno-Ugric family, totalling 2.7 million persons. All are minorities in their respective autonomous republics. There are serious obstacles to the practical implementation of the cultural and educational rights of these minorities. For example, education in the Mari language is provided only in some elementary schools, so that only about 20% of children can enjoy lessons in their mother tongue. The publication of textbooks in Mari is practically non-existent. So the linguistic identity of the Mari is slowly fading.
I am also concerned about political developments in Mari El Republic. Last December, the local president, Leonid Markelov, considered to be a strong pro-Moscow politician to the detriment of native cultural autonomy, was re-elected. When the Mari ethnic opposition, led by Mr Vladimir Kozlov, questioned the fairness of the election results, Mr Kozlov was brutally beaten up. There has still been no satisfactory investigation into that act of violence. Alarmingly, independent journalists have been harassed for a considerable period of time; three of them were murdered in 2001, many others have been intimidated and their papers forced to close down.
Also, as a result of the recent elections, several Mari school directors and civil servants of Mari background have lost their jobs. School directors were forced to give explanations as to why people in their areas voted for the opposition candidate.
A considerable number of MEPs have signed an appeal in support of the cultural rights of Mari people. This appeal has collected almost 10 000 signatures. The point of our resolution is to call on the Russian authorities to respect their obligations under international law and 'to provide quality education in one's native language on all levels, thus securing that the Mari language and Russian are placed on the same footing throughout the Republic.'"@en1
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