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Letter to Chair of the Munich Security Conference Christoph Heusgen

· 5 min read

November 24, 2022

Chair of the Munich Security Conference

Christoph Heusgen

Dear Mr. Heusgen!

We take this opportunity to assure you of our highest consideration.

The Free Nations League, uniting Tatars, Bashkirs, Buryats, Yakuts, Kalmyks, Chechens, Erzyans, Mokshans, Cossacks and Ingrians in their fight for the right to self-determination, is addressing you.

Today we are deprived thereof, because our republics and regions were transformed into colonies of centralized empire. Our peoples are not allowed to study in their native language. Our national organizations and parties are banned and dissolved. Our politicians are imprisoned, killed, maimed or forced to emigrate. Moscow is plundering the republics, rapaciously exploiting their rich subsoil, leaving ruins and ecological disaster zones. Our peoples became subjects to covert genocide, since Moscow is mobilizing a disproportionate number of representatives of the autochthonous population to continue the barbaric war in Ukraine.

However, even in these conditions, our peoples demonstrate their subjectness not only by means of political statements, but also by means of direct actions, preventing mobilization for another aggressive colonial war waged by Russia upon Ukraine.

Despite the fact that ethnic non-Russians make up a significant part of the population of the Russian Federation, and the national republics occupy the vast territory of a pseudo-federation, our voice is ignored and systematically muffled.

From your Twitter account, we learned that representatives of Russian opposition groups in exile are planning to attend the upcoming MSC2022 meeting. We applaud the Conference's decision not to invite officials from the Kremlin and to give voice to those who publicly condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and do not support this unjust colonial war.

In this regard, we ask you to give the opportunity to speak at the forum to the representatives of the Free Nations League. We sincerely hope that the conversation about the future of the Russian territories provides an opportunity to hear our opinion – the opinion of millions of representatives of indigenous peoples and residents of the regions. We would like to believe that MSC2022 understands there is a place not only for dialogue with Russians, but also for dialogue with Tatars, Bashkirs, Buryats, Yakuts, Kalmyks, Chechens, Erzyans, Mokshans, Cossacks, Ingrians and other peoples.

We ask you not to oppose our peoples to ethnic Russians, moving us away from contacts with the European Parliament, and replacing dialogue with the peoples in the Russian Federation with a dialogue with several Moscow politicians. The Free Nations League does not recognize any so-called "transitional governments" or other self-proclaimed structures of the Russian opposition.

We are counting on your balanced and wise position.

Sincerely,

The appeal was signed by representatives of national movements:

Bashkir

Ruslan Gabbasov, head of the Bashkir National Political Center (BNPC)

Ilshat Kinzyabaev, member of the Bashkir National Political Center

Buryat

Dorzho Dugarov, representative of the Buryat democratic movement "Buryad-Mongol Erkheten" in the European Union

Radjana Dugar-DePonte, representative of the Buryat democratic movement "Buryad-Mongol Erkheten" in the USA

Cossack

Vyacheslav Demin, elder of the Cossack National Liberation Movement

Ingrian

Mike Ingram, Leader of Ingrian Renaissance Association.

Oirat-Kalmyk

Arslang Sandzhiev, Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Erentsen Dolyaev, Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Batyr Boromangnaev, Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Vladimir Dovdanov, Deputy Chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Albert Sharapov, Member of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Daavr Dorzhin, Member of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk People

Moksha

Chovhanon Donisi, Head of the Committee of the Moksha nation representatives (in exile)

Tatar

Rafis Kashapov, Vice Prime Minister of the government of independent Tatarstan in exile, one of the co-founders of the Free Idel-Ural movement

Farit Zakiyev, Chairman of the All-Tatar Public Center

Nafis Kashapov, Vice Prime Minister of the government of independent Tatarstan in exile

Irshat Khabi, a political emigrant

Chechen

Khamzat Grozny, political émigré in France from the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

Erzya

Bolyaen Syres, chief elder of the Erzya people

Vitaly Romashkin, member of the Council of Elders

Ozhomason Kirdya

Yakut

Raisa Zubareva, co-founder of the Free Yakutia Foundation