A/63/339 distinct problems. The first group was composed of the ethnic Russians who had immigrated to Latvia during the Soviet occupation, many of whom had yet to acquire Latvian citizenship and were living under the status of non-citizens. The second vulnerable group identified by the former mandate holder was the Roma community, which suffered, as in most European countries, from cultural stigma and socio-economic discrimination and lived under marginalized conditions. Finally, the former mandate holder assessed the situation of a third vulnerable group, composed of non-European migrants who had only recently arrived in the country and who had been subjected to racist violence and hate speech, particularly in the electronic media, mostly from extremist and neo-Nazi groups. 38. As in the other Baltic countries, the former mandate holder noted that in the fight against racism in Latvia, it was important to take into account both the need of the country to reassert the continuity of its national identity — shaken and eroded by occupation but deeply rooted in memory — and the recognition and respect of the rights of all minorities including those resulting from the occupation. He emphasized that the two principles that should guide the process were the respect for historical truth and the non-discrimination of minorities. 3. Mission to Estonia 39. At the invitation of the Government, the former mandate holder visited Estonia from 25 to 28 September 2007. He submitted his report on the visit to the Human Rights Council at its seventh session (A/HRC/7/19/Add.2). The former mandate holder held meetings with authorities from the three branches of Government, including the Prime Minister, as well as representatives of civil society, minority communities and victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. 40. In his conclusions, the former mandate holder highlighted the political will shown by authorities, including the Prime Minister, to tackle the problems related to racism and racial discrimination in the country, highlighting, however, that it needed to be constantly reinforced and transformed into concrete actions. He also underlined the fact that Estonia had put in place some institutions that had been very sensitive to the issues relevant to his mandate. 41. The former mandate holder also found a number of areas of concern, primarily concerning three distinct communities in Estonia: the Russian-speaking minority, the Roma community and non-European migrants. The main concerns of the Russian-speaking community were directly related to statelessness, which predominantly affected the group, and the country’s language policy, which was seen as an attempt to suppress the usage of Russian. Despite its small size, the Roma community in Estonia, as elsewhere in Europe, suffered mostly from structural discrimination, precarious education and marginalization. Lastly, non-European minorities had experienced a surge in racist violence, particularly by extremist groups, and intolerance by some individuals concerning their ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. Although each of these communities faced different types of problems, a truly long-term solution could only be achieved by focusing on the promotion of multiculturalism and respect for diversity. 42. The former mandate holder further highlighted that in the fight against racism, Estonia would have to show political vision, legal vigilance and cultural creativity to develop a long-lasting sense of belonging and living together, which would allow 10 08-49342