Chechen authorities have paid a visit to Finland with the aim to study the European experience of organizing local self-management. When they were visiting the municipality of Helsinki, Chechen refugees held a protest action in the adjacent street in May 13, 2009.

The Chechen refugees in Finland were first to know about the forthcoming visit of Ramzan Kadyrov’s administration, then, their relatives in Chechnya got the jitters about their safety, and local TV channels proclaimed “another Kadyrov’s breakthrough to the West”, as reported by Oksana Chelysheva, a human rights activist and deputy head of the “Society of Russian-Chechen friendship”, closed in Russia and re-opened in Finland.

“Every visit of an official delegation has its consequences. Last year, they (Chechen officials, – note of the editor) came to Austria. And a couple of months later, in Vienna, Israilov was shot dead in broad daylight. Who will they bring this time? Where should we go, when Russia and Europe strike deals, which leave us no chance to survive?” Ms. Chelysheva quoted Chechen refugees.

KU/Dmitry Florin