Putin: Status of non-citizens in Latvia and Estonia is "shameful"

  • 2012-02-27

MOSCOW - The status of non-citizens in Latvia and Estonia is “shameful,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in a statement released today, reports LETA referring to rt.com.

“We are determined to ensure that Latvian and Estonian authorities follow the numerous recommendations of reputable international organizations on observing generally accepted rights of ethnic minorities,” emphasizes Putin. “We cannot tolerate the shameful status of "non-citizen". How can we accept that, due to their status as non-citizens, one in six Latvian residents and one in thirteen Estonian residents are denied their fundamental political, electoral and socio-economic rights and the ability to freely use Russian?”

Referring to the referendum on the status of the Russian language that took place in Latvia one week ago, Putin was scornful of the results of the vote, addressing the fact that 300,000 non-citizens - mostly ethnic Russians - were not allowed to participate in the referendum.

Putin also recommended that the Russian state must work harder to expand Russia's educational and cultural presence in the world, especially in those countries where a substantial part of the population speaks or understands Russian.