Russian foreign ministry speaks of protecting Russian-speakers’ rights in Baltic states

Konstantin Dolgov, who is the Russian foreign ministry’s commissioner for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, expressed his dissatisfaction with alleged mistreatment of Russian-speakers in the Baltic states at a conference of Russian-speaking communities from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

“The international community must respond decisively to violations of human rights of Russian-speaking residents in the Baltic states, prevent the growing spread of politicized russophobia,” Dolgov said at the conference.

“We are not going to put up with attacks on the Russian language that we see in the Baltic countries,” he said, accusing the governments of Latvia and Estonia of adopting regulations that denigrate the status of the Russian language.

According to Dolgov, Russian-speakers in the Baltic states have no possibility to communicate with state officials in their mother tongue and that, he says, violates their human rights.

He also noted that the Russian language should be used in topographic signs. “Over 50 percent of people in Latvia’s major cities are ethnic Russians. This is a clear instance of human rights violation at the heart of civilized Europe,” according to Dolgov.

Moreover, the Russian foreign ministry’s official expressed dissatisfaction with naturalization rules in Latvia and Estonia.

“Another problem is the mass statelessness in Latvia and Estonia… We call on the international community to take decisive action and exert pressure on the Latvian and Estonian governments to ensure that this scandalous phenomenon is eliminated in Europe,” Dolgov said.