Ingria Movement Seeks to Establish Pro-Western State on ‘Ruins of Empire’

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Nov. 22 – A week ago, a conference of supporters of the formation of a Free Ingria met in Riga. Participants subsequently adopted a declaration, and now Maksim Kuzakhmetov, a leader of this effort, has posted online that declaration. An informal translation (region.expert/ingria-declaration/) follows:

                                        The Declaration of the Free Ingria Conference

The fate of Ingria (Ingria) - our region, now located in the territories of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region as part of the Russian Federation, is deeply worrying. Ingria is part of Europe. All significant events in its history have occurred within a European context. St. Petersburg was founded on Ingrian soil for the sake of modernization and Westernization of Russia and thus the rich heritage of our region is inextricably linked with the European intellectual and cultural agenda.

The aggression unleashed by the Putin regime against Ukraine has irreversibly changed the foundations of the global order which emerged after the end of World War II. It has dragged Ingria into a senseless conflict with European countries, is deeply alien to our identity and interests, and has doomed our region to isolation from Europe, from its historical roots and human ties. For the sake of its aggressive ambitions, today's Russia, in fact, has renounced the achievements of its own modernization, turning to the dense archaism and the Golden Horde as a role model.

Having become a threat to international security and to its citizens, the modern Russian state is not promoting any of the positive values it had earlier pursued and does not offer any clear prospects for the development of our region.

In this regard, the conference participants declare their commitment to

• returning the historical name of Ingria to the territory now called the Leningrad region;

• the formation of the sovereign Republic of Ingria as a subject of international law within the administrative boundaries of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, building its relations with the Russian Federation (or another entity on its territory) and other states on the basis of equal treaties;

• the promotion of the values ​​of freedom, democracy, self-government, the rule of law as the foundations of the constitutional system of Ingria;

• the comprehensive revival of the cultural and historical heritage of the indigenous peoples of Ingria;

• following the European vector of civilizational development of Ingria with the building of mutually beneficial and partnership relations with states - the closest geographical neighbors, primarily the Baltic and Northern European countries;

• committing itself to coordinating its activities with national liberation movements of all regions and peoples of the Russian Federation to counter the imperialist policies of the Kremlin;

• declaring its solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who are courageously defending their European choice from aggressive Russian imperialism;

• promoting the formation of a broad civil and political coalition of supporters of the movement for the sovereignty of Ingria on the basis of mutual respect and equal cooperation.

We face a difficult task – the building of a prosperous Ingrian future on the ruins of the current empire, a future in which our country becomes a beacon of civic pride and economic success. Let's build the Ingria of our dreams together - where every voice will be heard, where every person can find their destiny, where our strong and free people will become masters of their land.