Activist and member of the International Consultative Committee of Finno-Ugric Peoples representing the Kven people, Bjernar Seppola commented to the FINUGOR mediacenter, adding to the assertion of Finnish ambassador to Russia Hannu Himanena, who claimed that this group does not exist in Suomi.

“In Finland, we do not speak about the Kvens. It’s in Norway that they call themselves Kvens, and that’s a different country. As far as we’re concerned, the language called Kven is simply a dialect of Finnish. We don’t have that ethnicity,” said the diplomat, answering the question on the recognition of the Kvens in Suomi.

According to Mr. Seppola, he isn’t surprised to see this position from an official representative of Finland. “Really, the majority of politicians in Finland profess not to recognize our people. We are recognized by some politicians and citizen activists, primarily in the North of the country where the Kvens live, but most politicians deny us the right to be an independent people. Though I’m sure the president of Finland, for example, knows perfectly well of our existence, but due to political considerations says that we are only a part of the Finnish people, and our language is just a Finnish dialect,” he said.

Mr. Seppola told us that in fact, Kvens continue to live in Finland today, and keep in active contact with their co-ethnics in Norway and Sweden. “Around 700 people are members of various Kven organizations in Finland, which is a significant number. There’s also a joint council of Kven organizations active in Norway, Sweden and Finland where each country is represented by three people. The Sami have a similar structure, the Sami parliament. The difference is the Sami are known, and have long been recognized as a separate people, and we were recognized in Norway and Sweden comparatively recently, while in Finland they’re still trying to avoid doing so,” noted the activist. “If you talk about defending the rights and interests of the Kvens as a native people of the region then we’ve got some competition with the Sami – we also herd reindeer, catch fish, hunt, and graze cattle, as well as some small-scale farming. However, the Finnish government has recently guaranteed these rights for local inhabitants, and that includes both the Sami and Kvens, however it isn’t something doled out based on ethnic group, but territory.” As the interviewee said, recently Russian Karelians have recognized the Kvens as an independent people. “Earlier they also considered us a part of the Finns,” noted Mr. Seppola.