Communique

–       Members of the Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Russian and European Parliaments participating at the 4th World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples met on 18 August 2004 in the building of the Estonian Parliament. The participants stated that the EU membership of three Finno-Ugric states has opened up new perspectives for the Finno-Ugric relations.

–       As a result of this, a more efficient cooperation is possible within the EU, among the Finno-Ugric peoples and also between the EU and the Russian Federation.

–       The participants suggested that they should support each other’s work through regular consultations in the framework of international interparliamentary organizations such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe and of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Parliament. Furthermore, they should jointly support the Finno-Ugric peoples having no parliamentary representation.

–       In the long term, they consider it necessary to hold regular consultative meetings of the representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples at regional, national and international levels forming an associated body of the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples.

–       The participants welcomed the Hungarian parliamentarians’ initiative to provide administrative assistance to maintaining contacts.

–       The participants are convinced that the parliamentary dimension of the Finno-Ugric relations improves the understanding between the Russian Federation and the other European countries. Therefore, they hope for an active support of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the legislative bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

–       The representatives express their gratitude to the Estonian Parliament for organizing this meeting.

Tallinn, 18 August 2004