At Fenno-Ugria Foundation’s annual meeting, closure of Kindred Peoples’ Programme condemned

Fenno-Ugria Foundation’s annual meeting on 3 June approved the foundation’s activities for 2025: the celebration of Kindred Month, publications, a summer school, travelling exhibitions, contributions to the celebration of Narva as the 2025 Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture, and more.

The foundation’s director, Barbi Pilvre, spoke about increased co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which resulted in a report on the situation of Finno-Ugric peoples in Russia in the context of the war in Ukraine. Project Manager Patrick O’Rourke provided an update on how Fenno-Ugria Foundation is participating in the Midsummer events at the Finno-Ugric Capital of Culture, Hancock. Adviser Jaak Prozes discussed how Fenno-Ugria Foundation’s 100th anniversary in 2027 could be celebrated and what is already in the works.

Criticism was directed at the Ministry of Education and Research’s plan to terminate the Kindred Peoples’ Programme, which—even after co-operation with the Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia stalled following the border closure in 2022—has funded significant grants and educational projects such as the publication of the Fenno-Ugria Yearbook, travelling exhibitions, the compilation of a Finno-Ugric calendar, and more.

Jüri Viikberg shared a curious fact: the Votic-Estonian dictionary published by the Institute of the Estonian Language in 2013 has recently appeared in Russia as a plagiarised version. The general meeting condemned this theft of intellectual property. After the meeting, Editor-in-Chief Taisto Raudalainen presented the new yearbook “Soome-ugri sõlmed 2025”. Author’s copies were distributed, along with words of thanks.