MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has called on the Council of Europe (CE) to facilitate naturalization procedures for Russian speakers in Latvia and Estonia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Thursday.
At a session of the council in Strasbourg, Grushko said the status of Russian speakers in the two Baltic countries was a cause for concern.
He said that restrictions on Russian's language and education rights and the lack of citizenship involving the infringement of political rights had not been thoroughly studied by CE ministers.
Grushko called for the transformation of European organizations, including the Council of Europe, to meet the demands of the time.
