The large Russian minorities in Latvia and Estonia, which joined the EU along with Lithuania in 2003, have repeatedly complained of discrimination by their governments, including denial of citizenship and employment rights, a position that has received strong support from the Russian authorities.
President Valdimir Putin, addressing the World Congress of Compatriots in St. Petersburg, said: "I cannot fail to mention the well-known fact of mass denial of citizenship rights in Latvia and Estonia. There are about 600,000 so-called non-citizens there, who are permanent residents."
"We must ensure that the governing authorities in these countries reverse the inertia of outdated approaches, and measure up to all-European legal standards," the president said.
After regaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Latvia and Estonia did not automatically grant citizenship to residents whose parents or grandparents arrived in the country after what they consider the occupation of 1940, and has launched educational reforms reducing the use of the Russian language in schools.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga has explained her government's stance on citizenship for ethnic Russians by saying it is still necessary to make Russians see that the Soviet occupation of Latvia was illegal.
President Putin said Russia will continue to defend the rights and freedom of its compatriots in all countries.
"It is our civic duty to defend them, and we will seek to fulfill this duty to the best of our ability," he said.
