KALININGRAD, Russia. May 23 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday accused Latvia and Estonia of limiting the right of their Russian-speaking communities to use the Russian language and said that thereby the two Baltic countries depart from "pan-European values."
"W ask our Latvian and Estonian neighbors to comply with recommendations that have been formulated within the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, recommendations that have been made by the high commissioner on national minorities of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe], and the commissioner for human rights of the Council of Europe," Lavrov said at a meeting with students at the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad, administrative center of the Russian Baltic exclave of the same name.
The minister said those recommendations advised the observance of the absolute minimum of rights national minorities in any normal European country must enjoy.
He said the difficulty of obtaining education in Russia in Latvia and Estonia is a serious problem. "We are pressing for its solution on the basis of values that underlie pan-European civilization," Lavrov said.
"The initiatives to abolish school instruction in the Russian language that at times come forward in Latvia run completely against such pan-European values," he said.
Lavrov expressed approval of young people coming to Russia from Latvia and Estonia to study.