Finno-Ugric representatives on PACE platform for dialogue

On 26 January in Strasbourg, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved a list of 15 members for a platform for dialogue with Russian democratic forces in forced exile. The Finno-Ugric peoples are represented by the head of the House of Ingria in Narva, Ekaterina Kuznetsova, the Votic representative, and Lana Pylaeva, editor-in-chief of the Komi Daily portal and the representative of the Komi people.

The nations living in the Russian Federation are also represented by Pavel Sulyandziga, who heads the international indigenous peoples’ fund Batani, Vassili Matenov, the founder of the media project “Asians of Russia” and Chechen public figure Ruslan Kutayev.

Ten of those on the list are representatives of the Russian opposition, the best known of whom are Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and others. The members of the platform participate in its work as natural persons, as the platform itself is not a representative body.

Platform for dialogue

The platform aims to ensure ongoing bilateral dialogue between Russian democratic forces in exile and leading members of the Assembly. The platform also aims to create a framework for discussing issues of mutual interest.

Lana Pylaeva believes that this is an important platform for dialogue with Russian civil society and an opportunity to speak up and stand up for the rights, languages, and interests of indigenous peoples. Although PACE platform members do not have voting rights, they can participate in discussions, establish contacts, organise events, and convey information to Europe about the real problems facing the peoples of Russia. Pylaeva considers it particularly important to give the Komi people a voice and to talk about the situation and problems of her people.