Today, leaders of Free Nations League (FNL) and URALIC Centre NGO concluded a memorandum of cooperation aimed at promoting FNL’s interests in the Baltic Sea region, the European Union and the United Nations system.
The planned cooperation will advance the rights, political agency and self-determination of indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation, protect persecuted activists of national movements, as well as strengthen FNL’s voice in key European states and international institutions.
According to Oliver Loode, director of URALIC Centre, the memorandum marks a logical next step in the cooperation between the two organisations, “In April 2024, URALIC Centre hosted the first Congress of the Free Nations League in Estonia. Since then, FNL has undergone impressive organisational evolution while its political messages have become more focused and nuanced. URALIC Centre is honoured to continue accompanying FNL on its path to full realisation of the collective human rights of the indigenous peoples of today’s Russian Federation.”
Syres Bolaen, president of the Free Nations League, commented on the concluding of the memorandum as follows, “We intend to develop relations with kindred peoples – Finno-Ugric, Turkic, Mongol and others – and capitalise on their experience in working with international institutions. We value URALIC Centre because of its practices: it systematically advances the interests of indigenous peoples where decisions are being made.”
About URALIC Centre
URALIC Centre is an Estonian human rights organisation that works towards the empowerment of indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities worldwide. The roots of URALIC Centre lie in international cooperation between Finno-Ugric peoples, with Finno-Ugric Capitals of Culture as URALIC Centre’s flagship project. URALIC is led by Oliver Loode, former Member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and the Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM).
About Free Nations League
Free Nations League is a civic and political platform that unites national and regional movements of the peoples of the Russian Federation. Free Nations League (FNL) promotes the realisation of these peoples’ right to self-determination, achievement of their political agency and the establishment of independent democratic states. FNL is comprised of Tatar, Bashkir, Buryat, Erzya, Moksha, Sakha, Circassian, Chechen, Mari and Ingrian national movements.
Contacts:
Free Nations League: freenationsleague@gmail.com
URALIC Centre: info@uralic.org