В редакцию поступила копия письма Русского этнического представительства штата НЮУ премьер-министру Австралии. Письмо написано на английском языке.
Prime Minister
House of Representatives Parliament House PO Box 6022
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Mr Abbott,
We, the representatives of the Russian community in Australia, would like to express our concern regarding the immediate reaction of our Australian government to the political situation that has developed in Ukraine.
Our prime concern is driven by the fact that, understanding Australia’s position on the global stage, the Australian government appears to have taken an unbalanced view in relation to the Ukrainian conflict which will, no doubt, provoke an unsolicited persecution of the Russian community and, in the long run, have lamentable consequences to the whole Russian community of Australia. Furthermore, the predominantly one-sided sentiments expressed in the Australian media up to the present time, presenting Russia as an aggressor in the Ukrainian conflict, is highly offensive to the ethnic Russian community in Australia.
There appears to be little awareness that the large proportion of the population in the Eastern part of Ukraine and in particular in the Crimean peninsula are native and ethnically Russian speakers. Indeed according to The Australian from 6/3/14 Russian is a native language to more than 75% of the population in Crimea, Donetsk region and some other parts of Ukraine, while for 25% - 75% of the population, of practically the whole of the Eastern Ukraine, Russian is a native language. According to the Russian newspaper “Unification” from 7/3/14 (published in Sydney), 97% of the population in Crimea use Russian language in their everyday communication.
It is at the request of these people who fear that their human rights are being threatened by the extremists’ movement in Kiev and who requested help from Russia, their native country, that Russia became involved in the Ukrainian crisis. Historically, Crimea has been and still is an important and revered part of Russia and was “gifted” in 1954 to the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic by Nikita Khrushchev.
The members of the Russian community of Australia as well as members of the Australian community at large have worked tirelessly over decades to build closer relations between Australia and Russia to the benefit of both countries. It would indeed be extremely disappointing to see the good results achieved being eroded by political ambitions.
We urge the Australian government, when making political decisions regarding the situation in the Ukraine to give due consideration to both sides in the evolving conflict and present a fair and balanced argument; the human rights of Russian people living in Crimea cannot be ignored. In a truly democratic country such as Australia consideration should be given to the will of the people. Russia, nor any other country for that matter, has ever deserted their compatriots during times of trouble. Unfortunately the present situation in Ukraine seems to be one of those times.
As a community, we sincerely hope that the current crisis can be peacefully resolved, facilitated by calm and impartial parties.
Yours sincerely,
Zoya Kojevnikoff President Russian Ethnic Community Council of NSW Inc (RECC)
cc. The Hon. Julie Bishop Minister for Foreign Affairs
cc. The Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP Member for Wentworth
cc. The Hon Craig Laundy MP
Member for Reid
cc. The Hon Bill Shorten MP
Leader of the Opposition
cc. The Hon Laurie Ferguson MP
Federal Member for Werriwa
cc. The Hon Chris Bowen MP
Member for McMahon
