Thursday's plenary session began with Håkan Jonsson condemning the Russian invasion.

After that, the situation was raised several times by members.

At the end of the day, a joint statement was made.

"The Sami Parliament strongly condemns the abuses Russia is carrying out against the Ukrainian people.

The Sami Parliament also wants to express respect for Ukraine's sovereignty as an independent state

"This act violates not only the human rights of the Ukrainian people but also of the people residing in Russia who are affected by the sanctions now being imposed."

Concerns about how the Sami in Russia are affected

Several politicians raised concerns about how the Sami population is affected in Russia, and how cross-border cooperation is affected.


It was also addressed in the joint statement.

"The Sami are a people living in four countries, of which Russia is one of them and the Sami Parliament considers it likely that the new world situation will have a negative effect on Sami cooperation.

Sanctions and possible closed borders risk also excluding the Sami on the Russian side Sápmi from the international indigenous work.

The Sami in Russia already operate in difficult conditions and lack the support of the Russian state for their work.

Sami parliamentarians call on the EU and NATO countries to ensure that the Sami in Russia have the opportunity to work together with other Sami, across national borders.