Russian School in Estonia admitted to European national minorities program
The Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN) has accepted as its member the Estonian nonprofit Russian School in Estonia, which has championed against the switch to the teaching of 60 percent of classes in Estonian at the country's Russian-language high schools.
The presidium of FUEN has approved the application of the Russian School in Estonia to become a member of FUEN, the head of Russian School in Estonia, Mstislav Rusakov, told BNS on Monday.
The Russian School in Estonia filed its application for FUEN membership in May 2016.
FUEN was founded in Paris in 1949 — the same year as the Council of Europe — and with around 90 member organizations in 32 European countries, it is the largest umbrella organization of autochthonous national minorities and ethnic groups in Europe.
The umbrella organization's current members from Estonia include the Estonian Association of National Minorities, the Estonian Association of Belarusians, the Estonian Union of Germans, and the Estonian Union of Slavic Educational and Charitable Associations.
In one of its previous annual reviews, the Estonia's Internal Security Service (ISS) described the Russian School in Estonia as an organization which, financially supported by the authorities of Russia, acts at the events of international organizations in the interest of supporting propaganda hostile toward Estonia.
Editor: Aili Vahtla