Russian security forces keep tight rein on Finno-Ugric congress in Mari Republic

31.08.05

President says all problems "provoked or invented by Finnish media"

By Kirsikka Moring

The International Congress of Finno-Ugric Studies, which concluded at the weekend in Joskar-Ola, the capital of Russia's Mari El Republic, did not yield much in the way of linguistic science or anthropology, but in other respects the meeting was quite colourful. 
      Already before the gathering the militia and security forces of the republic held conspicuous "rescue exercises". The local Mari El newspaper reported on the exercises, which were aimed at practising repulsing attacks by "terrorists and other extremist elements". 
      According to the paper, there was no reason for participants to fear, as the congress was being monitored by the city's entire police force. 

In one of the police exercises, the officers rehearsed removing a bomb from the location of the congress - the large stage of the Mari National Theatre. In another exercise they defused a dummy explosive in a Lada parked on a highway, and in another, they captured a terrorist after a shooting incident. 
      In the imaginary situation, a sniper was removed from the building where the guests of the congress were housed. 
      "It was in this atmosphere that we were supposed to engage in scientific discourse", said Riho Gr�nthal, Professor of Baltic Finnish Languages at the University of Helsinki. 
      "In the West we feel that one of the important tasks of universities is societal interaction. In Mari this seems to be impossible." 

Fewer than 40 researchers from Finland took part in the congress, even though over 80 had registered. The delegations of Estonia and Hungary had also shrunk to less than half. There were only about 20 Estonians, and just under 40 Hungarians. 
      Some of the scientists, such as Finnish Professor Pauli Saukkonen, had stayed away to protest the policies of the government of the Mari Republic, which has been accused of oppressing the ethnic Mari in the region. 
      There were only about 500 people taking part in the congress, even though the number of participants had been expected to exceed 1,000. 
      An atmosphere of anxiety prevailed. 

In the working groups the shortage of experts caused certain problems. Only half of the presentations marked in the programme were held, and the timetables were not kept. 
      Finnish participants said that science turned into politics. Their local colleagues were ordered not to discuss anything concerning the problems of the republic. Anyone asking a question about a controversial matter was faced with a brick wall of silence. 
      The foreign guests were constantly followed by police, and an entire police convoy would accompany each of the various excursions. It was certainly safe, but it was difficult to meet ordinary residents, and photography was also restricted. 
      The scrutiny went so far that mobile phones used by Finnish participants were silenced when they tried to set up meetings with local colleagues. 
      Scheduled meetings were cancelled, when a local colleague was suddenly compelled to go on holiday on the day in question. The Mari participants at the congress were also threatened with "repercussions" after the departure of the foreign guests. 

Municipal leaders would often begin their speeches by saying "Thanks to President Leonid Markelov, we are doing well". After a folk dance performance it was said: "Only a happy nation dances like this!" 
      The Mari, who are known for their hospitality, received their foreign guests well. Food and drink was abundantly available, but the assistants at the congress did not get a single kopek for their work. 
      The Finnish Ambassador to Moscow, Harry Helenius, hosted a reception for the participants of the congress together with the Estonians and Hungarians. 
      Also holding a reception was President Markelov, where the focus was on how well things are going in the Mari Republic. According to the President, all problems are provoked, or invented, by the Finnish media. 

The status of minority languages in Russia does not look good in the light of the congress. The Finnish participants are especially concerned about the marginalisation of the national languages, which they fear could be rendered into "museum languages" of rural villages. 
      National languages are not favoured in the cities. Radio and television programmes are being reduced further, and language education is being pruned away. The position of teaching of the mother tongue is especially grim in the schools of Udmurtia. 
      The linguists taking part in the congress suspected that languages that are limited to rural villages lack the possibilities for vital cultural and linguistic modernisation. 
      Regional development and the construction of new regional centres are, in their view, almost at a complete standstill in Mari. 
      The next International Congress of Finno-Ugric Studies is to be held in five years time in the Hungarian university town of Piliscaba. 

Source: Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition