The Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledges that the 1999 law 'On State Policy of the Russian Federation Regarding Compatriots Abroad' is practically not working. On the one hand, it preserves for people from Russia and the USSR, during their stay in their historical homeland, rights and obligations on par with Russian citizens. On the other hand, to exercise these rights, a person from Russia must obtain a corresponding certificate. 'In the eight years since the law came into force, we have not issued a single compatriot certificate, because this concept is interpreted too broadly and covers tens of millions of people around the world. For example, the law allows residents of such former parts of the Russian Empire as Poland and Finland to obtain compatriot status,' said Alexander Chepurin, director of the Foreign Ministry's department for work with compatriots. According to him, a special working group will be created to finalize the existing federal law or write a new one. It should present its proposals in November at the next World Congress of Compatriots, the venue of which has not yet been determined.
At the last meeting of the coordination council, representatives of foreign diasporas complained about the impossibility of maintaining ties with their homeland immediately after losing citizenship. 'In Germany, people are not allowed to have dual citizenship - say, German and Russian. Having renounced our Russian passport, we immediately face many bureaucratic obstacles. To visit relatives, we have to contact a travel agency, and buying real estate in Russia, getting a job, or sending a child to study in Moscow is practically impossible,' Venera Gerasimova-Vagizova, a representative of the Tatar community in Germany, told a Gzt.ru correspondent.
Sergei Petrosov, president of the association 'European Russian Community,' believes that specifying the concept of 'compatriot' would facilitate the implementation of the program for voluntary resettlement to Russia. 'As a rule, a person does not decide to return to their homeland in one day. This requires multiple trips to the area of intended residence, finding a job, and so on. If, in accordance with the law, the procedure for obtaining a multiple-entry visa or a work permit were simplified, people would not be afraid to agree to a final move to Russia,' noted Sergei Petrosov.
Sergei Lavrov assured representatives of the diasporas that appropriate changes would be made to Russian legislation. He also promised that by the end of the year, another three-year program for 2009-2011 on work with compatriots abroad would be adopted. Work on the program is still underway, but the theses that are currently known cannot but cause surprise. The main focus is on information support and strengthening partnerships: organizing libraries, websites, and creative competitions for anniversaries. The program does not mention the need for legislative consolidation of the status of compatriots.
Olga PAVLIKOVA.