Farid Mukhametshin: ‘Every nation has the right to its mother tongue!’
The Tatarstan government is preparing proposals to resolve the issue with the exclusion of the concept of “mother tongue” from the Federal State Educational Standard

Not a traditional report on the work done, but two of the most important, in the opinion of Tatarstan parliamentarians, issues became the “highlight” of the speech of the Chairman of the State Council of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin to journalists at a press conference officially dedicated to the results of the work of the republican parliament in the first half of 2025. The most emotional and poignant were the speaker's answers to journalists' questions regarding the upcoming elections and the prospects for changing the Federal State Educational Standard from 1 September 2025, as a result of which the concept of “mother tongue” will disappear from them. Read about the key takeaways from the meeting of the head of parliament with journalists in the report of Realnoe Vremya.
“Everyone wants to preserve the best”
The State Council of Tatarstan reacted sharply to the publication of a draft order by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, according to which Russian schoolchildren from the new school year will have to study not their native language and literature, but “The Language of the People of the Russian Federation and (or) the State Language of the Republic of the Russian Federatio” and “Literary Reading in the Language of the People of the Russian Federation.” Answering journalists' questions at the final press conference, Farid Mukhametshin said:
“Yes, you need to know the state language well — Russian. We all know it. But in multinational Russia, every nation has the right to its native language. In Tatarstan, the people value their native language. And everyone wants to preserve the best of their people, for example, traditions. This is the strength of multinational Russia. All languages must be treated with respect.”

His speech at the briefing was preceded by a heated discussion by Tatarstan deputies at a parliamentary session of plans to replace the concept of “mother tongue” with “the language of the people of the Russian Federation” in combination with a change in the wording “implementation of the right to study the native language, the opportunity to receive basic general education in the native language” to “implementation of the right to study the language of the people of the Russian Federation, the opportunity to receive basic general education in the language of the people of the Russian Federation” and a reduction in the amount of hours for language study. As a result, at a meeting of the State Council, it was decided that Tatarstan would prepare an appeal to the Ministry of Education and the Government of Russia regarding the exclusion of the concept of “mother tongue” from the Federal State Educational Standards.
“We will decide on the form. Our government is already preparing its proposals to resolve this situation. But if this does not help, then we will appeal to the State Duma,” said Farid Mukhametshin.
The chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan reported that today the republic's leadership should meet with State Duma deputies and Russian senators from Tatarstan to discuss, among other things, the issue of native languages.
“It will be a big mistake if this document passes”
“It will be a big mistake if this document (the editor's note: the order of the Ministry of Education on changing the Federal State Educational Standard) passes if we cannot stop [it],” emphasized Farid Mukhametshin. “We expressed our position today. It seems to me that understanding will come after this question was raised.”

He noted that before, schools had reduced the number of hours for studying native languages, “but not in the way they are trying to do it now,” and this creates additional difficulties in solving the problem.
The head of parliament recalled that language is an integral part of a nation, nationality, and cited himself as an example for those who face difficulties in using it in adulthood, noting that he himself grew up in a Russian village, in a family where they did not speak Tatar and “could not speak Tatar at all until I was 45”, but even at a respectable age he managed to master his native language.

“Russia is a multinational country, every nation has the right to its native language,” Farid Mukhametshin emphasized. “Everyone wants to preserve something better, 175 nations and nationalities honour their best traditions, cherish them. This is our national strength!
Elections: “no major changes have occurred”
Farid Mukhametshin recalled that four candidates for the post of head of the republic submitted documents to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Tatarstan. Rustam Minnikhanov (United Russia), Ruslan Yusupov (LDPR), Khafiz Mirgalimov (CPRF) and Vitaly Smirnov (Russian Party of Pensioners for Social Justice).
In his opinion, “no major changes have occurred” in the list of candidates.

“Here we must not make a mistake with the candidate who will come to this position for five years for this position and will solve current and future tasks for the development of our republic with his experience and preparedness,” he emphasized. “I can say that we had no questions. I am the secretary of United Russia, one of the largest political parties in the country. More than 130,000 party members in the republic! We unanimously nominated a candidate — the current head of the republic Rustam Minnikhanov. He has proven with his work the possibility of successfully achieving the goals and objectives that the republic faces for the next five years.”
Farid Mukhametshin also recalled the upcoming election of the mayor of the capital of the republic and said that the rais of Tatarstan proposed five candidates, but noted that “the voter will still vote himself.”
What has been done for entrepreneurs
Farid Mukhametshin told journalists that during the spring session, deputies adopted more than 50 laws, and a significant part of them are related to the introduction of measures to support small and medium-sized businesses. In particular, he noted the law on the development of creative industries, which lays the foundations for a new direction of entrepreneurship in the economy of the republic.

The law, which entered into force on May 9, 2025, he said, is aimed at developing the creative economy and creating conditions for self-realization of citizens based on their creative and intellectual potential:
“The adopted law provides for the publication of a number of by-laws regulating the criteria for classifying as subjects of creative industries, the procedure for confirming compliance with such criteria, the formation and maintenance of a register of subjects of creative industries.”
The speaker of the parliament of the republic also recalled that the preferences for taxpayers using the simplified taxation system were legislatively extended for taxpayers whose main economic activity is manufacturing, production and distribution of electricity, gas and water, as well as construction.
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