Robert Kolomainen, “Carelia” magazine chief editor, wrote a notice of resignation. He explained his intention to leave the position of the head of one of Karelia oldest editions by changing the situation with the Finnish language in the Republic to the worse, according to Internet resource “News of Karelia”.

“I will briefly explain the reasons for my resignation. It is, above all, disagreement with the government authorities’ policy of the total reduction of the Finnish language and Finnish literature in the Republic, in particular - with the five-time reduction of “Carelia” magazine frequency, - said R. Kolomainen to “News of Karelia”. - This policy contradicts to the historically developed regional identity of Karelia, which is cherished by the Republic residents, regardless of their nationality. With the current policy we will soon find ourselves in a sense of the residents’ regional and cultural identity at the level of Gatchina district residents of Leningrad Oblast”.

Let us recall that last year the Republic's authorities decided to reduce publication of “Carelia” magazine from ten to two editions a year. This decision has caused outrage of many famous cultural workers, both in Karelia and in neighboring Finland. They sent several applications to the Republic’s authorities, and to the presidents of Russia and Finland in defense of the only Russian literary and art magazine in Finnish. However the Karelian officials have not changed their plans to reduce the issue of the magazine.

R. Kolomainen has been the head of “Carelia” for more than twenty years