OREANDA-NEWSThe experiment with the introduction of the Russian language as an alternative to Swedish in Eastern Finland will be curtailed. This is with reference to the Finnish Ministry of education reported in the Russian Embassy in Helsinki. The Agency explained its decision with "low interest of citizens".

The citizens themselves, however, fundamentally disagree. According to residents of the border areas of Finland, they have long urged the authorities to give their children the right to choose which language to learn.

In September 2012, the Council of Europe Commissioner for human rights Nils Muižnieks in his report reproached Finland for infringement of the rights of the Russian — speaking population-in particular, in the field of employment. A month later, the government announced the creation of a Fund to support Russian culture, in schools were introduced optional Russian lessons, and tourists from Russia with a pleasant surprise found in shops and restaurants price tags and menus in their native language. The culmination of the" warming "could be the abolition of mandatory Swedish and the introduction of voluntary study of the Russian language in schools. This, in particular, said the Minister for Europe, culture and sports Sempo Tarhe. In September 2017, he even announced a decision to conduct a five-year experiment with the abolition of Swedish in schools in certain areas of the country. But a year later, "something went wrong."

The main reason for the failure of the government experiment to replace the mandatory Swedish voluntary Russian was "lack of interest on the part of local residents," explained in the press service of the Russian Embassy in Helsinki.

— Applications for participation in the experiment was applied for six schools — including, of Finland, Jämsä, Pieksämäki, Oleari and Rovaniemi (all cities located in the East of the country). However, by the summer of 2018, applications were withdrawn due to the lack of interest and lack of students wishing to participate in the experiment, — said the Embassy.

Compulsory study of Swedish begins with the sixth grade. It turns out that from this point in the school program includes four languages: Finnish, Swedish, as well as "optional" English and Russian.