Finno-Ugric nations celebrate in Russia
Published 19 July, 2007, 22:16
Russian, Finish and Hungarian leaders have opened an international ethnic festival in Saransk, the capital of the Russian republic of Mordovia.
Mordovia, 600 kilometres east from Moscow in the Volga district, is often called the Motherland of most Finno-Ugric people.
There are at least 14 nationalities of this group living in Russia, each preserving its culture, language and traditions. There are over 25 MLN Finno-Ugric people in the world and 2% of Russian population belong to them, being represented by 30 nationalities. In Finland and Hungary they form the majority of the population.
The presidents of the three countries were eager to try everything during the first day of the festival: they danced, tried national food, visited wooden cabins – each of them representing a certain nationality of the Finno-Ugric group. They also tried to carve traditional wooden figurines. President of Finland Tarja Halonen said that she really had ‘a fantastic day’.
For the leaders this was a great event and they took the opportunity to get familiar with the folk traditions, and as for the people who were in the audience it was thrilling to see such high-ranking guests, many wanted to make pictures with them. And for the participants this was a chance to show their culture, show the younger generation who they are and to restore the historic ties with the brotherhood nations.
Russian President, Vladimir PutinIn Russia we have always paid attention to the development of ethnic cultures and we'll continue to do so. Every nation, every ethnic group should feel comfortable here, and understand that this is home, this is grounds for stability and development of this country
For Finland's and Hungary's leaders it was important to see and know that the Russian Federation is able to provide the necessary environment to preserve the values of this ethnic group.
Estonia is one of the Finno-Ugric countries, and its delegation also has taken part in the festival. However no Estonian officials were invited by the Russian side and there have been no official statements concerning the reasons of this. Some Estonian officials have called for their Finnish and Hungarian partners to boycott the Russian event, but delegations from both these countries have come to the festival.
Relations between Russia and Estonia have been tense due to the recent removal of the monument to Russian soldier from the centre of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. There were also accusations from Estonia that the ethnic Finno-Ugric group in Russia is suppressed by the Russian authorities and that they are not enjoying all the rights of the minorities. Russian officials in their turn pointed out that Russians as a national minority are suppressed in Estonia.
A lot is being done to preserve the traditions of the Finno-Ugric groups in Russia. In Mordovia, where over 300,000 Finno-Ugric people live, Mordovian language is represented widely on television and in newspapers. Education of all levels could be obtained in Mordovian and Russian is studied just as yet another subject.
For instance in the village the festival has taken place 90% of the population are Mordovians. In school children are taught in Mordovian until they are 10 years old. Then teachers switch to Russian. According to the Ministry of Education of Mordovia, studying that way is easier for children to get used to school as Mordovian is the language of their household. Also in some schools children have classes as embroidery and carving which are typical Mordovian skills.
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