The State Duma refused to simplify the issuance of passports to Russians from the ex-USSR
The ruling majority in the State Duma, represented by the United Russia party, refused to support a draft law on a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to people of Russian ethnicity who found themselves outside the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR.
“81 deputies voted in favor, one abstained, and the parliamentary majority simply did not vote,” said LDPR deputy Alexander Sherin, one of the initiators of the bill.
As the LDPR press service clarifies, the bill envisaged a simplified procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for compatriots abroad if at least one of their parents has documentary evidence of Russian nationality.
With the adoption of this law, it would be possible to obtain a Russian passport without an exam in the Russian language, without a 5-year experience of living in Russia and without a condition on a mandatory source of income.
“We talked a lot about the Russian world, about how unfair it is when Russians are killed in the Donbass, how they infringe, how they humiliate, how it is forbidden to speak their native language, how many of our compatriots were squeezed out of the former republics of the USSR ... And how many They come to us for an appointment with a request to assist in obtaining citizenship of their historical homeland - the Russian Federation," Sherin said.
However, the bill was criticized by representatives of other factions.
Deputy Sergei Kazankov from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation said that Not only Russians from the former Soviet republics, but also Chuvash, Tatars, Mordovians, and Bashkirs should apply for simplified citizenship.
Sherin responded by offering to support the law and then make an amendment for members of other nationalities.
“I want to remind you that in our Constitution of the Russian Federation all nationalities are listed. There is a list of national regions. Only the word "Russians" does not sound even once. We have not been able to eliminate this injustice. And now we are saying - let's at least give the Russians the right to receive citizenship in a simplified manner. If someone stood up for the Russians in Russia the way Ramzan Akhmatovich stands up for the Chechens, that would be very good,” Sherin told the communist.
But unexpectedly, other factions began to criticize the bill, the correspondent of PolitNavigator reports.
“How can we do this if we now give preferences to one people? By no means, because many are drawn to us only because the great Russian people have never exalted themselves... Thinking about the fate of the country, about its future, we should under no circumstances support this bill. It is not aimed at the unity of the country, it carries more destructive principles,” he opposed and representative of A Just Russia Nikolai Ryzhak.
Did not support simplified issuance of passports to Russians and member of United Russia Ramzil Ishsarin. “Our basis is friendship between our peoples. Our country is multinational... The United Russia party does not support the adoption of the bill in this form,” Ishsarin said.
“Rewind the recording later. Issuing Russian Federation passports to citizens because they are Russian “threatens the integrity of our state”! At this moment I want to say to the deputies from the Republic of Crimea: “Welcome to your native harbor!“Sherin was amazed.
“Germany invites the Germans home, Israel invites the Jews, Poland invites the Poles. Only in Russia could a similar law receive negative feedback from the government and the relevant State Duma committee for the development of civil society,” explained the leader of the LDPR. ‒ We do not limit anyone's rights with this law. On the contrary, we are expanding the rights of the largest, state-forming people of Russia. And it is monstrous, it is blasphemy to refuse such a law. It’s a shame when the Russian parliament says: we won’t care about the Russians. Who is being killed in Ukraine? Not Russians? What language is being infringed there? Not Russian? Some other people of Russia? Abroad, it is mainly Russians who suffer; they are being squeezed out of the former Soviet republics and even from some republics in Russia itself. Millions of Russians want to return to their homeland, connect their lives with Russia, and we force them to take a Russian language exam, force them to prove that they want to live in Russia, to prove that they have money,” said LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
“Under Yeltsin, comrades from the West gave us a Constitution in which Russians are not even mentioned. And for some reason, no one in the State Duma has been embarrassed for 25 years now that the main law of the country discriminates against the Russian people. But a law that would expand the rights of Russians is immediately considered discrimination"He added.
If this sabotage had not continued for 30 years, added Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the population of Russia would have long ago exceeded 160-170 million.
Due to the refusal of the State Duma to adopt a law in support of the Russians, the head of the LDPR faction in the State Duma left the meeting room of the lower house of parliament in protest. “Shame on those who deny millions of Russians the right to return to Russia,” Zhirinovsky concluded.
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