Due to persecution in the Russian Federation, Erzyans convene a national congress in Estonia

Due to persecution in the Russian Federation, Erzyans convene a national congress in Estonia

Erzyans announced preparations for the national congress.  Due to increased repression at home, delegates will gather in Estonia.  According to the notice published on the website of the national movement, the congress will take place at the end of September, but the final place of its holding is kept secret.

“In August of this year, the people of Erzya were supposed to convene the Promx, the highest national representative body, in the Republic of Mordovia.  This is a congress of delegates from political parties, public organizations, cultural societies and religious communities of Erzians.  Promx defines the guidelines for the national movement.  According to these guidelines, Atyan Ezyem works as a council of elders and Inyazor as the chief elder.  However, it was not possible to convene Promx or to re-elect Atyan Ezyem.  With the beginning of the large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, a number of repressive laws were adopted in the Russian Federation, and the persecution of opponents of the regime, including national activists, intensified.  Under such conditions, it is impossible to nominate delegates to governing bodies, and even more so to hold congresses in the Republic of Mordovia.  The Russian authorities tried to establish complete control over the Erzyan national movement, and when they failed, they created clones of national representative bodies, which they staffed with employees of the budget sphere, i.e. people dependent on the authorities,” explains Vitaly Romashkin, who heads the organizing committee for the Erzyan national movement  congress and is a member of Atyan Ezyem.

The organizing committee notes that despite all prohibitions and obstacles, the pressure of the FSB and the police, Erzyans must gather in exile to discuss the acute problems that have arisen in front of the people and require urgent solutions. Among them are the determination of new goals of the national movement, as well as the approval of specific mechanisms for solving the tasks and providing an assessment of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Erzyans from different countries were part of the organizational committee, which is engaged in preparing for the convening of the congress.

“We are grateful to our Estonian friends who, in this difficult time, are showing their hospitality – giving us the opportunity to hold our congress in an atmosphere of Finno-Hungarian brotherhood, the absence of police supervision and the threat of arrests.  The delegates will make efforts not only to direct the work of the Erzyan national movement, but also to give an impetus to all the peoples enslaved by Moscow to fight for their rights and freedom,” commented Syres Bolyaen, the Inyazor of Erzyan.

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