MOSCOW, April 10 - RAPSI. The Foundation to Support and Protect the Rights of Compatriots will set up legal aid centers in the countries where Russian nationals encounter the biggest problems, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"The foundation focuses on enhancing the standards of compatriots legal literacy and teaching youth leaders to protect their rights and to resolve problems abroad in compliance with the host countrys laws," the Foreign Minister said.

The non-profit Foundation to Support and Protect the Rights of Compatriots was established by presidential decree and began working on January 1, 2012. Its founders are the Foreign Ministry and Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian federal agency in charge of promoting international cooperation.

The foundation was set up to provide comprehensive legal and any other assistance to protect compatriots' rights, freedoms and legitimate interests in accordance with generally recognized principles and the norms of international legislation on human rights.