Meeting with the leaders of the International Consultative Committee and the Association of Finno-Ugric peoples during an international festival of Finno-Ugric culture in Mordovia, President Vladimir Putin said that issues such as whether to give this or that language official status should be decided based exclusively on the interests of ordinary people.
Various instruments for supporting the Finno-Ugric peoples, including setting up media outlets, using local languages in the media, developing bilingualism and supporting authors writing in local languages will serve as a reference to the state in its work, Mr Putin said.
Also taking part in the meeting were Finnish President Tarja Halonen and Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.