At the third congress of the indigenous peoples of the BEAR in Tromsø speakers regretted ignoring problems of the indigenous peoples and expressed the desire to "work in a dialogue, rather than confrontation".
Photo: Anja Salo
According to Sami politician from the Murmansk region, the honorary guest of the Congress Valentina Sovkina, the authorities of Norway, welcoming the participants of the international meeting, noted that the country didn’t notice the problems of the indigenous people in the recent past but today the situation has changed.
Legislation that protects the interests and traditions of the Sami was passed. There is a lot of work with the UN, and the Sami themselves are members of the Assembly. Meanwhile, in the welcoming speech was also voiced that the Norwegian authorities monitor the activities of the Sami in other countries. And they urged Russia, in particular, to hear activists and give equal opportunities to all active participants in the political life of the people.
The representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Zelenov assured that the authorities want to support the movement of indigenous peoples. He referred to the scandalous situation that has developed in connection with a trip to a conference of indigenous people in New York.
Let us recall that in autumn 2014 social activists were unable to attend the event or arrived late due to the fact that, according to one version, the authorities raised difficulties.
“Russia was presented by 28 delegates at the conference,” Zelenov said. “As for the absence of some activists, the relevant specialists have already conducted an investigation and sent all the information to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.”
Moreover, the Russian Foreign Ministry successfully works with the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, and future work on cooperation with indigenous peoples will also be a priority.
“We are interested in dialogue and not interested in confrontation,” the speaker concluded.
The Third Congress of Indigenous Peoples of the BEAR in Tromsø lasted one day and ended with the adoption of a resolution. Now lawyers and linguists prepare accurate translations of documents from English into the languages of the participating countries, including the Sami and Russian.
Yevgeniya Volkova, «7x7»
