Prime Minister Juhan Parts

Prime Minister Juhan Parts on the World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples in Tallinn on August 19, 2004

Dear participants of the Fourth World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples,
honoured kinsmen from near and afar,
representatives of the Nenetses, Selkups,
Khantys, Mansis and Hungarians,
Udmurts, Bessermans and all Komis,
Maris,  Erzyas and Mokshas,
Kvens, Votians, Saamis, Vepsians, Karelians and Ingrians, Livonians and Finns and my countrymen, Setos and Estonians!

It is a great honour to stand before you and partake in this great convention of our kindred peoples. I am glad that the Estonian Republic has the opportunity to host this World Congress. At the same time it obligates us to transmit our internationally recognised experiences in solving the problems of national minorities and indigenous peoples. For you the past few days have been filled with long meetings and enriching cultural contacts, but above all, with important discussions. As a well known Estonian proverb says, "Work praises the one who has done it". I am sure that this is also the case with the work you have done in these past days, the results of which have been summarised in the final documents of the Congress that were adopted today – the cooperation between our kindred peoples will continue and by relying on each other, we can continue to develop each people, their standard of living and their culture.

At the very start I would like to commend the tradition of a World Congress of Finno-Ugric Poeples taking place every four years.  This year it has been the fourth time for us to gather.   It is like a family gathering (which, at least in Estonia, is a rather popular tradition), where one can speak openly about their life and troubles. It is a place to draw conclusions about the situation of each particular nation or people, and a moment of reviewing and analysing the situation of our kindred peoples and general developments.

What are the living conditions of the Finno-Ugric peoples today and what are the current problems – these are the topics that have filled your days at the Congress with discussions and analyses. I can only add a few insights from the level of my powers. Several of my colleagues from Europe have expressed their concern over the situation of the Finno-Ugric peoples in the Russian Federation. In its Resolution of 25 September 1998 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has also expressed concern over the endangered status of Uralic languages and cultures in Russia.
I would briefly mention three main problems:
1) Decrease in the Finno-Ugric population;
2) Problems related to the possible restrictions on autonomy;
3) Continuing linguistic and cultural assimilation.

Unfortunately statistics show that the number of people using one of the Finno-Ugric languages as their mother tongue is continuously on the decline in Russia. A sad example can be found in Karelians: they make up a mere 9 per cent of the total population of the Karelian Republic in the Russian Federation, their only official language is Russian, whereas the Karelian language has no official status. We are not the only ones to be concerned over such situation – I have already mentioned the Resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Endangered Uralic Minority Cultures.

It is not only our prerogative, as Estonians and Europeans, but also our duty to support the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia (and, conceivably, other peoples of Siberia and Far East who are in a critical situation): as Estonians, we have directly experienced the policy aimed at the extinction of indigenous peoples, and it is only natural to feel solidarity with all others who find themselves under the same threat, maybe even more drastically so. The Estonian Government pays close attention to the situation of our kindred peoples and, wherever necessary, draws the attention of the global community and international organisations to serious human rights related problems pertaining to the languages, cultures and education of these peoples.

We should recognise that, on the one hand, Russia's striving for democracy has opened up new opportunities for the minority cultures, as compared  to the totalitarian regime of the USSR.  However, on the other hand, new threats have also developed. The Soviet Union boasted, at least outwardly, of all the different cultures prospering, but today this is no longer cost-effective. Also, opportunities have increased for local (usually Russian-speaking) administrations to act arbitrarily. Unfortunately, as we can see, they do not fail to seize these opportunities.

An illustrative example of the violation of people's rights is the decision of the State Duma, made a couple of years ago, that all official languages of Russia should use the Cyrillic alphabet. The whole Europe was astonished at this decision. In the aforementioned Karelian example it means that the Karelian language can never be the official language in the Karelian Republic, because it uses the Latin alphabet.

Or another example from two years ago, when they wanted to close down the Mari National Theatre, a decision that was sanctioned, if not decreed, by the President of the Mari El Republic Mr Markelov. These are most regrettable incidences of (so to say) short-sighted policy where the leaders will not recognise the importance of developing national cultures and languages.

The languages and cultures of our kindred peoples are threatened not only by direct measures of suppression, but also by indirect problems such as urbanisation, where the pressure from the prevailing culture is always overwhelming. This brings about Russification for pragmatical reasons – for the children to have the world open to them.

These processes are based, on the one hand, on economic factors, but on the other hand (and even more importantly) on the question of the strength of their cultural identity.

Under economic factors I mean not only the universal developments in today's global economy, but also specific problems in the territories of some of our kindred peoples. These relate to huge industrial settlements as well as lagre-scale mining for natural resources, in particular for natural oil, in complete disregard for the traditional living environment of the indigenous population. The local indigenous culture and language are displaced from the industrial centres, while heavy immigration from other areas takes place.  

Instead of the rich natural resources that can be found in many of the traditional territories of Finno-Ugric peoples becoming a factor leading to the extinction of these peoples, the indigenous peoples themselves should have control over these resources. At the same time there are examples in the world where the central government has found opportunities to keep apace with modernisation and at the same time preserve the uniqueness of the indigenous peoples (Saamis in Finland, Inuits or Eskimos in Canada and Greenland, Maoris in New Zealand).

The foundation stone of cultural self-identification is education in one's own language, the possibility to express oneself in one's own language in daily life. Where there are signs of any threat that might suggest that a people might eventually become extinct, one cannot stand by idly, watching this happening. It is a question of preserving the cultural heritage of each and every people, so that it would contribute to the world culture. And a question of supporting positive developments.

And here every nation can set their own priorities and goals – whether to support economic growth, cultural development or socio-political progress.

The EU membership of the three Finno-Ugric states opens up a certain new dimension for the aid schemes directed primarily at the Finno-Ugric peoples living on the territory of Russian Federation. Representatives of Estonia, Finland and Hungary can now begin to develop a strategy within the European Union, and this is something we must set out to do immediately, so that progress would be apparent by the next World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples.

The problems of our kindred peoples are an additional dimension in the cooperation between Estonia, Finland and Hungary that our politicians take and have always taken into account. The cooperation that has united Estonia, Finland and Hungary in their policy towards their kindred peoples ever since the construction of the Livonian community centre on the shores of Kurland before World War II, is now continuing on a new level.

For example, the Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian ministries of culture and education are cooperating to help our kindred peoples in Russia – on August 9, 2000, representatives of the ministries of the three countries signed a protocol in Tartu, specifying the directions of this cooperation.

Once a year the ambassadors of the three countries in Moscow visit one of the Finno-Ugric autonomies in the Russian Federation, in order to familiarise themselves with the situation there. This year the ambassadors visited the Mordvin Republic; in the two previous years the Mari El  Republic and Udmurt Republic. On the basis of the impressions gained during these visits, it can be said that in some cases, regrettably, the authorities have compiled a diverse programme, but unfortunately, at the same time they have blocked any contacts with the representatives of national movements.

I have mentioned briefly the crucial importance of education. The main theme of this Congress – "Youth is our future" – is directly connected with this. When the youth of a people grows up healthy in a democratic society and acquires a sound education, the future of the people  is ensured.

But native language schooling is in a very difficult situation among our kindred peoples and it has not improved during the past few years. The importance of education in one's own language has been stressed by the Council of Europe; the problems of the foundation of native language educational establishments from primary schools to higher education, the training of teachers, creation of specialised terminology and compilation of textbooks in the native languages were emphasised in the resolution of the previous, Third World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples in 2000. Today the problem has become even more urgent.

I do not doubt that all representatives of the kindred peoples gathered here share the view that for a national entity everything begins from the recognition of one's identity, from cultural self-determination. This is the survival instinct of a people.

As an Estonian and as the Prime Minister of our independent state, it is easy for me to say so, because this is how the formation of the Estonian people took place. As Estonians, we have always appreciated the role of our language and the importance of its usage in our  Estonian identity.

Written word is the foundation for the survival of a language. This can be followed naturally by social life, temperance societies, choral societies, song festivals, schools, and eventually the development of national elite, which serves as a basis for the development of social organisations, which in turn has an impact on the arramgement of the whole society. It was only after that that we reached the very apex of our national existence – the political formation of a state.

Even after World War II, during half a century when we shared the fates of other Finno-Ugric peoples under the USSR, we made efforts to protect our native language and culture. Our nation has faced the question of survival repeatedly during our history. Therefore we can clearly understand such concerns among our kindred peoples.

I am glad to announce to the participants of this Congress that just last week the Government of Estonia approved the new Kindred Peoples Programme. This is a state-financed aid programme to support the languages and cultures of the indigenous Uralic peoples; the programme covers the years 2005–2009 and continues the activities of a previous similar programme.

The goals of the new programme are to contribute to the formation of the native language elite of our kindred peoples and to the development of national studies, to preserve the cultural heritage (traditional skills and authentic folk culture), to support the exchange of information in the native languages and the dissemination of information about Estonia, and to help develop survival strategies for the Uralic peoples through health and environmental programmes.

The Kindred Peoples Programme adopted six years ago and titled "Programme for educational, scientific and cultural cooperation between Finno-Ugric peoples" has measured up to our expectations, and now it has been brought to a successful completion; its implementation will be completed at the end of this year.

The new programme does not reproduce the definitions or strategical principles of the previous programme, but proceeds from them and aims at ensuring the continuation of the ongoing activities started under the previous programme. Above all, mention should be made of grants that enable students from among our kindred peoples to study in Estonian higher educational establishments.

Estonia has long-standing experience of cooperation and contacts with the representatives and scholars of our kindred peoples in Russia. Therefore it is only natural that we would like to continue to support the Finno-Ugric languages and cultures through cooperation in the field of education and research.

For decades scholars from Finno-Ugric peoples have written their doctoral dissertations and obtained their degrees at the University of Tartu; these ties are still there. In the light of the new situation, Paul Ariste Centre for Finno-Ugric Indigenous Peoples was founded at the University of Tartu five years ago. The University of Tartu remains an international centre for Finno-Ugric studies. The Linguistica Uralica international scientific quarterly continues to be published.

According to the development cooperation report of 2003 to OECD Development Cooperation Committee, Russia, being the home country of most of our kindred peoples, remains the most important destination of humanitarian aid from Estonia; 33% of the total bilateral aid given by Estonia, amounting to 4.580 million kroons, goes to the Russian Federation. This includes the 3 million kroons accounted for by the Kindred Peoples Programme of the Ministry of Education and Research.

But be the research programmes what they will – and our larger kindred people from Finland and Hungary can contribute even more to that end – it all starts from each individual person. This is where the future perspectives begin.

The developments in the Russian Federation and the acceptance of common democratic values also play a role for most of the peoples represented here. And democracy is nothing but an opportunity for each people to choose their own leaders and determine their own regime.

By way of conclusion let us remember that we are, after all, participating in a big family gathering; and this is no clandestine affair of a secret society, nor a decaying clan, but a powerful family of the world culture. The Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples, that is to say WE, inhabit large territories and we have a rich cultural heritage to show, with which we can enrich the world.

As the Estonian semiotician and culturologist Yuri Lotman stressed, there are no small languages and small cultures in the world. Every culture has an enormous potential for development. When a culture perishes, when a language is not spoken any longer, it is not merely a local tragedy of a single people, but a disaster of global proportions. If we do not make every effort to prevent this, we too will be responsible.

See you again in four years! By then we will be even stronger! Let us hope so, for it depends basically on ourselves.