Russian authorities decided to clarify the definition of the concept of compatriots
The government submitted to the State Duma a bill 'On Amendments to the Law "On the State Policy of the Russian Federation Regarding Compatriots Abroad"'. According to the document, the status of 'compatriot' can now be obtained only by Russian citizens living abroad, or persons who do not have Russian citizenship but have made a free choice in favor of 'spiritual, cultural and legal ties with Russia'.
According to the current version of the law, compatriots, in addition to Russian citizens living abroad, are recognized as citizens of the former USSR and emigrants 'who had corresponding citizenship and have become citizens of a foreign state.' Also falling under this category are citizens with a residence permit and stateless persons.
As stated in the explanatory note to the bill, the document is aimed at clarifying the definition of compatriots in order to exclude the possibility of automatically classifying 'all persons living in states that were part of the former USSR' as compatriots.
The main changes are made to the first three articles of the law. In addition to clarifying the content of the concept of compatriots, the document proposes to exclude the provision on state documentation of compatriots as 'unrealized'. For example, while currently Article 3, paragraph 2 of the law states that belonging to compatriots, although an act of free choice, must nevertheless be confirmed by a special document (certificate) of a type established by the government, the new version provides that recognition of belonging 'is an act of self-identification, supported by public or professional activities to preserve the Russian language, native languages of the peoples of the Russian Federation, and develop Russia's culture'.
Article 13 of the law is essentially rewritten in the document. In the current version of the law, it regulates the legal status of compatriots and stateless persons on Russian territory. The government bill proposes to write in this article that the Russian authorities facilitate the voluntary resettlement of compatriots. It is noted that since resettlement funding is already provided from state funds, adoption of the bill will not require additional expenditures.
Chairman of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Compatriots Alexei Ostrovsky considers the law timely. 'Its relevance is due to the fact that over the 11 years since the law was passed, many realities have changed. This necessitated clarifications. This will allow us to provide greater support because it is now clearer who falls under the concept of compatriots,' he told Gazeta.Ru.
In turn, the editor-in-chief of the Regnum agency, Modest Kolerov, who previously was in charge of ties with compatriots in the Russian presidential administration, criticized the bill. 'It contradicts state and national interests because it extremely narrows the broad democratic non-ethnic understanding of compatriots that current legislation provides,' Kolerov characterizes the bill.
According to the former official, the amendments introduce unacceptable principles according to which, besides Russian citizens, only those who have supported their self-identification with corresponding activities are compatriots. 'That is, the Foreign Ministry lobbied for a bill aimed at creating a cesspool of professional Russians who will hang around diplomatic missions,' Kolerov believes.
Furthermore, according to the editor-in-chief of Regnum, the law introduces a chauvinistic, even racist norm that 'compatriots are, as a rule, those ethnic groups that historically live in Russia,' but no list of ethnic groups is given and no explanation of what 'historically live' means.
Olga Bolotova, Ilya Azar.
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