KALININGRAD, May 27 (RIA Novosti)- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Latvia distorted its obligations by ratifying the EU Convention on Ethnic Minorities in an abridged version.
The diplomat commented on Latvian officials' statements that "the convention does not concern non-citizens". "Precisely this problem is the main violation of human rights in Latvia," he said. He stressed that over 400,000 so-called non-citizens of Latvia "want to live in this country, be its loyal citizens and once they voted for Latvia's sovereignty".
"Their votes were reckoned with earlier, but now they are outsiders," Lavrov said.
"Besides, there were statements which in fact prohibit addressing government bodies in any language except Latvian. This contradicts all European standards beyond doubt," the Russian foreign minister stated.
