Finno-Ugric Days Under Way
As part of the Pan-Finno-Ugrian Days - held in Estonia, Finland and Hungary each October - representatives of Finno-Ugric nations met with President Ilves in the Kadriorg residence yesterday.
“The spirit of our small cultures must reach much further than our geographical boundaries so that the world will come to understand us and stand for us if necessary,” said Ilves. “It is not simply about preserving old traditions and frozen cultures only of interest to ethnographers, but a careful and forward-looking modernization.”
Finno-Ugric representatives discussed issues such as the vitality of literature and education in native tongues, and the destruction of the Votic people's lands due to the construction of the Ust-Luga harbor in Russia.
The Pan-Finno-Ugrian Days were founded in 1928. In recent years, Finno-Ugric events have also been organized in Russia. Last year, Parliament declared the third Saturday of each October a public holiday - Pan-Finno-Ugrian Day.
Ott Tammik