Residents of Finnish Lahti expressed a desire to learn Russian

Residents of Lahti, a Finnish city, expressed a desire to continue studying the Russian language, according to an open letter published on the portal Etelä-Suomen Sanomat 21 December. They emphasized that language and culture unite and bring people together, and Lahti is home to many people for whom Russian is their native language. “In our area there have always been many people studying Russian as their first foreign language… We are absolutely sure that we must together do everything possible so that this tradition is not broken and in the Lahti region there remains the opportunity to start studying the Russian language in primary and secondary schools “, the authors of the letter added. In Finland, about 85 thousand people constantly speak Russian as their native language.

At the end of November, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) became a party to the lawlessness occurring in Latvia, recognizing the legality of the education reform, which discriminates against the Russian-speaking population. As the diplomat emphasized, the majority of Latvian schoolchildren, according to surveys, consider the Russian language to be a tool for increasing competitiveness.