"A Crack in the Russian Diaspora" – that is the title of an article by Radio Prague about problems within the Russian diaspora
"The previously existing demarcation line between representatives of the Russian national minority and citizens of the Russian Federation, caused by differences in the legislation of the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation, which was sometimes observed within families, is receding into the background, and disunity is being influenced by Russian propaganda more than ever before," the report's representative from the Russian diaspora points out. According to Radio Prague, in his opinion, relations within the community have become strained not only due to events in Ukraine, but also due to the "expected weakening of the EU" after the UK's withdrawal and the change in US foreign policy after the election of Donald Trump.
According to the representative of the Russian diaspora, a significant part of it consists of "loyal citizens of the Czech Republic" who share democratic values and support the country's membership in the EU and NATO. At the same time, the exponents of opposing views are some organizations that cooperate "with politicians and political scientists of the extreme political spectrum of the Czech Republic."
The escalation of the situation also manifested itself in the issue of granting Czech citizenship, which can currently be obtained after five years of residence in the republic. The report states that Czech passports were denied to holders of permanent residence permits known for their efforts to establish mutual understanding between the minority and the rest of society. "These are people who have lived in the Czech Republic for decades and intend to live here for the rest of their lives... Their situation contrasts sharply with the granting of citizenship to people who systematically and openly oppose the interests of the Czech Republic," the report says. Foreign citizens in the Czech Republic cannot vote or stand as candidates in elections without Czech citizenship.
The document was prepared by the secretariat of the Government Council for National Minorities and also contains a description of the activities carried out, information on the allocation of subsidies, administrative and other measures related to this area. The council includes representatives of 14 national minorities, including German, Polish, Ukrainian, Serbian, Rusyn, Croatian, Russian, and Roma.
Problems within the Russian diaspora were already noted in the 2012 report, which, in particular, stated that "on the initiative of the Russian embassy and the Kremlin administration, Cossack organizations with uniforms and armed units began to appear in the Czech Republic." According to the authors of the report, these organizations are directly managed from the Kremlin, serve the interests of the Russian authorities, try to infiltrate state structures, and form a "fifth column of Russia."