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#12 - JRL 8191 - JRL Home
Ombundsman demands observation of human rights in Baltic states

MOSCOW. May 1 (Interfax) - Vladimir Lukin, Russian human rights commissioner, will insist on the observation of the rights of the Russian-speaking minorities in Baltic states and hopes for EU assistance on the matter.

"This is the ABC of democracy. And we will insist on it and I would want to hope that Europeans will help us," he told Interfax on Saturday - the day of the official admission of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia to the EU.

Lukin was surprised that they were admitted to the EU at all because their practices with regard to people not speaking the local language greatly differ from European standards.

However, he hoped that after being admitted to the EU Baltic states would get under greater scrutiny from European institutions as far as the observation of EU common principles is concerned.