Will the hopes of his compatriots come true, or what did the presidential administration answer to Zatulin?
On October 15-16, 2021, the Seventh World Congress of Compatriots took place in Moscow, giving hope to these people living abroad. But in reality the situation is not as optimistic as it might seem at first glance.
Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Alexandra Dokuchaeva writes about this in her column for PolitNavigator.
About 400 leaders and activists of public associations of compatriots from 102 countries, representatives of federal legislative and executive authorities, executive authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, Russian foundations and non-governmental organizations took part in its work. Taking into account the current restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this event was held in an in-person format.
And this time, compatriots heard how Russia cares about respecting their rights, especially in connection with the inclusion in the country’s Constitution of an article on special treatment of compatriots abroad:
“The Russian Federation provides support to compatriots living abroad in exercising their rights, ensuring the protection of their interests and preserving the all-Russian cultural identity.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who opened the Congress, spoke about important innovations in legislation that compatriots are waiting for. His words “we are convinced that wherever a mixed family lives, wherever a child is born, he is obliged to automatically receive Russian citizenship” were met with unanimous applause. A solution to this “non-children’s” issue of children has been awaited for more than ten years.
Konstantin Zatulin reported on legislative work in the new convocation of the State Duma to the participants of the Congress. The participants received approval from the information about the introduced bill “On repatriation to the Russian Federation”, about the Russian citizenship of residents of the PMR, which they could obtain without leaving Russia as residents of the LDPR, about resolving the issue of citizenship of children from mixed families at the request of one Russian citizen parent so as not to wait for the consent of the foreign parent for the child to obtain Russian citizenship.
After the Congress, Zatulin prepared an analytical report “Migration, repatriation and obtaining Russian citizenship: formulation of the issue and legislative initiatives” for the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, appointed by the president as the head of the United Russia party commission on international cooperation and support for compatriots abroad, in addition to the fact that he is the chairman of the government commission on the affairs of compatriots abroad. This document was also transferred to the Russian Presidential Administration.
Recently, Zatulin’s certificate received a conclusion (dated October 21.10.2021, XNUMX), signed by the head of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries I.V. Maslov.
Mr. Maslov did not delve into the specific proposals made by the most experienced politician in the problems of compatriots, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, and a member of the Government Commission on the Affairs of Compatriots Abroad.
From the review it follows that everything that Zatulin writes about has either already been implemented, or will be taken into account in new editions of the laws that are being prepared in the bowels of the apparatus, or is generally contrary to the norms of family law.
I will not comment on the absurdity of the claims to Zatulin’s position. The deputy is well aware of the current state of the legislative framework regarding compatriots. Zatulin does not break into an open door.
He talks about several unresolved problems that remain today: the issue of Russian citizenship for children whose only one parent has Russian citizenship; on the procedure for recognition as a “native speaker of the Russian language”; about the ongoing confiscation of passports from Russian citizens; about the need for a “migration amnesty” for Ukrainian citizens who have become unwitting violators of migration laws.
Maslov also does not like the bill on repatriation. They do not consider it necessary to practically solve the issue of passportization of residents of Transnistria who are waiting for Russian citizenship. The problems of Russian citizens who, in order to continue their work in state and municipal institutions, must submit certificates of absence of other citizenship, but cannot obtain them, since they have never formalized the citizenship of the country in which they were born, are not significant for the authors of the review (this not necessarily Ukraine, whose government does not meet the “Muscovites” halfway), which Zatulin draws attention to.
If legislation continues to be structured as Maslov considers necessary, then the hopes of his compatriots will again not be destined to come true. But we hope that this gentleman will not have the last word.
Judging by the response to Zatulin’s analytical note, the strengths of the chief who signed the review do not include competencies: in the field of human rights, legislation on migration and citizenship, and Russia’s policy towards compatriots. The employees of the Russian Presidential Administration for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries and cross-border cooperation, who analyzed the document presented by Zatulin, do not shine with knowledge in these areas. Unfortunately.
However, judge for yourself, dear reader.
Document prepared by Zatulin.
Answer from the Office of the President of the Russian Federation.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.