© Flickr/European Parliament
The European Parliament deputies called for support of Russian education in Latvia. 115 people have signed the joint declaration that will be forwarded to the Latvian Sejm and government. The Campaign was organised by parliamentarians Miroslav Mitrofanov and Andrey Mamukin, representing Russian community in this country, the Latvian Russian Union informed on its Facebook page.
Authors of the letter sharply criticize the education reform that takes away from children of national minorities the right to study in their native language. Miroslav Mitrofanov and Andrey Mamukin have also reminded about one of the fundamental principles of European Union: respect and protection of the national minorities' rights. The document urges to revise the Education reform amendments that aim to ban the Russian-language education in Latvia.
The declaration is signed by representatives of 28 EU countries, and almost all parliamentary factions. Every 7th deputy supported the necessity of the Russian school education in Latvia. The document authors marked that this is unprecedented expression of solidarity towards the national minorities, especially Russian residents of the EU.
Miroslav Mitrofanov thanked his colleagues who participated in collection of signatures and stood up for the campaign. He called it a big achievement. Mitrofanov recalled that this is a fight not only for Russian schools but also for the freedom of several human rights activists, including Alexander Gaponenko and Vladimir Linderman who are currently held in custody. “Europe is with us! We will win!” said Mitrofanov.
Russkiy Mir
