The Ukrainian community in Russia will hold a congress within the next few months to discuss their further activity, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has told Interfax-Ukraine.
"More than 70 leaders of Ukrainian communities and organizations from the majority of Russian regions attended the meeting held by Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko on Feb. 5 at the order of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko," the ministry’s information policy department head Oleh Voloshyn said.
There are more than 130 regional and local ethnic Ukrainian organizations in Russia. "The meeting with the ambassador showed that Ukrainian Russians planned to hold a congress within the next few months to discuss their problems," he added.
That would be a breakthrough, because no such congresses were held for several years. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will not interfere in the ethnic Ukrainian movement nor put any pressure on it; on the contrary it will encourage Ukrainians living in Russia to make an independent decision.
"The Ukrainian state will support any of their initiatives," he said.
The Russian Supreme Court closed down the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians of Russia (FNCAU) on November 24, 2010. Court hearing continues on the closure of the Ukrainians in Russia organization
