[BRIEF NOTE] The Problem With the Maris

[rfmcdonald]

Helsingin Sanomat's International edition has an article regarding the European Parliament's reaction to the persecution of Russia's Maris. The Maris, one of many Finno-Ugric ethnicities living within the frontiers of the Russian Federation, have allegedly been subjected to sustained oppression by Russian-nationalist and conservative forces despite a post-Soviet revival. This has reached a peak in the aftermath of a recent election.

Last year, the indigenous Maris were largely opposed to the re-election of President Leonid Markelov, who enjoyed support from the Kremlin. Markelov, himself a supporter of hard-line nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky, won the election, although the results - according to the indigenous Mari population - did not bear close scrutiny.

Since the election, the indigenous Maris who were against Markelov have been tyrannised through illegal dismissals and violent beatings. Some of the violence has resulted in deaths, but apparently no one has been convicted of the crimes.

A Finno-Ugrian bloc within the European Parliament, comprising parliamentarians from Finland, Estonia, and Hungary, has taken the case of the Maris before Strasbourg. The issue might conceivably have an impact on European Union-Russian relations generally, inasmuch as the Parliament's condemnation of the situation in the Mari Republic would introduce human rights--most importantly, human rights outside of Chechnya--into the bilateral discourse.