May 12, 2006
The Moscow Helsinki Group’s 30th birthday
Dear Moscow Helsinki Group, dear Lyudmila Mikhailovna Alexeeva, Happy Birthday! Your thirty-year struggle for democratic principles and human rights, for a civil society and a state governed by the rule of law, has been hard but has brought you fame. Your thirty years of inspirational activism may seem today to have achieved little. But you must continue to escort this country down its special path - or else we’ll be removed from it somewhere along the way. Precisely because the demand for the values you uphold is diminishing in Russia, the country needs more than ever your commitment. We believe it won’t be long before there’s an incredible boom in society for the shiningly practical and truthful measures you promote. From the staff of the Press Centre.