PARIS, October 13. /TASS/. The fact that a great number of Estonia residents are stateless persons as well as a high unemployment rate among the Russian-speaking population of the Baltic republic trigger concern of the Council of Europe, says a report published by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

According to the authors of the report, they are concerned about high unemployment rates in the regions where the bulk of the population speaks Russian. Aside from that, the document points to the fact that the commission’s recommendations on the new language policy in high schools have not been fully implemented.. The commission had offered Estonia to endorse special action programs for economically disadvantaged regions to reduce unemployment rates.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance is an independent human rights body created by the Council of Europe.

Estonia has been a member of the Council of Europe proclaiming principles of democracy and human rights since May 1993. During the parliamentary elections in the country that took place in March 6,5% of its residents who are stateless persons were deprived of the right to vote. These are mostly representatives of the Russian-speaking population.