Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-17-Speech-1-035"
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"en.20031117.4.1-035"2
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"Mr President, I shall not comment on what the previous speaker said; I shall merely say that it is inconceivable to me that such reasoning should be heard in this House. I should like to ask you to allow me to inform the House about a number of serious infringements which I noticed during my recent visit to Estonia and Lithuania.
In Estonia, as in Latvia, although half the population is Russian or Russian-speaking, the Russian language is not recognised as an official language. Public-sector services, courts and laws are all in a language of which they have an inadequate command. In addition, they are denied the nationality of the country in which they and their fathers were born. They are made to sit humiliating and highly specialised examinations in language, the constitution and history, which very few are able to pass. The universities and schools are closed to Russian. In all three Baltic States, the communist parties are banned and their cadres persecuted. In Lithuania, the leaders of the Communist Party of Lithuania, Mikolas Burakevicius and Koulalis, have been in prison for ten years on prefabricated charges under a law passed long after they were arrested.
This and much more goes on in the Baltic and in other former socialist accession countries, despite assurances to the contrary by Mr Verheugen, who has repeatedly expressed his support for these flagrant violations.
I should like to draw your attention to a letter containing specific facts …"@en1
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