Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-12-Speech-4-178"
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"en.20050512.25.4-178"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, today we are debating yet another issue that one might well call sensitive. We are being called upon to consider the life and tragedy of a small nation that has, quite frankly, been conquered by Russia.
Ever since the 16th century, Russia has adopted a different approach to national expansion from that of the colonial powers. Although the latter gained power over various countries throughout the world, they did not generally believe that these countries should be fully integrated with the colonial homeland and robbed of their cultural, national and linguistic identities. Russia approached the matter differently, by immediately deciding to Russify every country it conquered, and to deprive the country of its identity and the inhabitants of their religion and language.
Russia took this approach towards Poland in the 19th century, and the Poles suffered a great deal as a result. As a rule, Russia’s attempts to Russify the country were extremely cruel, as they consisted in exiling tens and hundreds of thousands of people. Although some of them were simply encouraged to leave, many were brutally forced to do so, with Russians then arriving to take their place. There was a sharp rise in such practices when the Communists came to power following the October Revolution, as it was then that Russia decided to intensify efforts to Russify all of the countries under its rule. The small Finno-Ugric nation we are discussing today, namely the Republic of Mari El, also fell victim to Russia. This small republic is now entirely under the control of the Russians who went to live there, and its original inhabitants, the Finno-Ugric people, are now nothing more than a persecuted minority.
I would remind the House that the same is in fact true in those countries that have freed themselves from Russian rule. The majority of the people in these countries still belong to the original population, rather than being Russian, but there is a powerful Russian minority that does not view itself as being in any way integrated. This kind of situation can be seen in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, where the Russian minorities are determined to make their presence felt, regardless of the interests of the countries in which they live. One need only pick up a newspaper in any of these countries to see that the Russian populations are antagonistic or downright hostile to their countries of residence. These populations frequently claim rights that in any other circumstances we would acknowledge, yet a prerequisite for the acknowledgement of such rights is that the people concerned demonstrate at least minumum loyalty towards the countries in which they live.
Matters are even worse in the Republic of Mari El, as Russians now form the majority, and the original population has become a persecuted minority. Journalists are murdered, there are not enough schools, it is impossible to receive an education and anyone who speaks out in favour of the Finno-Ugric population is persecuted.
We must ensure that a balance is achieved between the rights of the original owners of the country and those of the democratic majority. The latter is in fact simply an occupying force, and it must not be allowed to tyrannise and persecute the minority of original inhabitants."@en1
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