Halonen Meets with Putin in Mordovia
President Tarja Halonen met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian republic of Mordovia Thursday before attending in a Finno-Ugric cultural festival.
The two met for talks in the Mordovian capital of Saransk. Just before their bi-lateral discussions, President Putin said that it is a pleasure that Finland has so much interest in the Finno-Ugric peoples.
According to Halonen, Russia is a multi-cultural and multi-national country, and the Finno-Ugric peoples are a part of this big family. She said that this multi-national character is a treasure. Both Presidents said that they are concerned about the position of the Fino-Ugric speaking minorities and other ethnic minorities in Russia today.
Afterwards, they participated in the opening ceremonies of a Finno-Ugric cultural festival as well as met representatives of the local Finno-Ugric communities.
In her address to the opening of the festival, President Halonen described the use of one's mother tongue as an important human right.
Over 30 delegations representing Finno-Ugric speaking communities are taking part in the festival. Trip Reminds Finns of Maris' Plight Two years ago activists from the Mari El Republic, home to the Mari nation of Finno-Ugric people of the Volga region, sent Halonen a petition for assistance. They claimed the republic's president, Leonid Markelov, was oppressing the Mari people. The European Parliament has examined the human rights situation of the Mari nation. Currently it's not known whether Markelov will continue as president of the republic. However many regional leaders have asked Putin to extend their terms before Putin's term as president comes to an end next spring. Meanwhile a few Estonian politicians asked Halonen to cancel her trip to the region to demonstrate solidarity with their country. Estonian leadership was not invited to Saransk. YLE
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