AT HOME AMONG STRANGERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that facilitates the procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship by foreigners-Russian speakers who renounce their current citizenship and permanently reside in the territory of the Russian Federation. Recognition of a foreign citizen as a native Russian speaker is going to be based on the result of an interview with the special commission.

The persons in question can be recognised as native Russian speakers if they or their direct relatives in the ascending line permanently reside now or permanently resided in the past in the territory of the Russian Federation or in the territory that was part of the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union within the state border of the Russian Federation.

Thus, any person who knows Russian, permanently resides in Russia and has renounced his/her current citizenship can obtain a Russian passport - legally and within the shortest possible time.

Why has this happened now?

One cannot but notice the fact that the signing of this law coincided with the events in Ukraine. For many years, the "issue of citizenship for compatriots" has remained unnoticed for the majority of Russians, although many of such "compatriots," or "Russian speakers" as they are called now, complained about numerous obstacles in the process of "returning to their historic homeland." The fact that the State Programme for Assisting Compatriots Residing Abroad in Their Voluntary Resettlement in the Russian Federation plainly failed has also added fuel to fire. In total, as few as 162,000 people have moved to Russia since the launch of the programme in 2006. Notably, those who wanted to live in Russia did not put forward any requirements - such as relocation allowance, benefits, housing or employment - except for the Russian passport without which it was very difficult to find a job even if a person had a residence permit. But these people have been overlooked for years ... until the events in Ukraine. Meanwhile, migrant workers had their own story - they had to resort to certain tricks to "gain a foothold in Russia" and obtain legal status.

What will be the procedure, or "Who are they to judge us?"

Up till now, the law and its provisions remain only on paper. Real applicants, who have been requesting resettlement in Russia for years, continue to complain of the lack of information about the interviews, while the Directorate of the Federal Migration Service (FMS) still "pushes them off saying they know nothing about the matter." It is particularly unclear, for example, what will be the procedure for proving that "direct relatives in the ascending line lived in territories that belonged to the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union within the state border of the Russian Federation."

There are certain doubts regarding the interview on the knowledge of the Russian language. As noted on the Russian government resources, an alien must demonstrate the "ability to understand and adequately interpret abstract, philosophical, professionally oriented, journalistic and literary texts … to adequately perceive the socio-cultural and emotional features of the speaker's speech, to interpret famous sayings and hidden meanings." The applicant's literacy will not be checked at that.

As for professionals forming the Commission, they should include, pursuant to the requirements of the FMS, the actual employees of this service as well as representatives of scientific and educational organisations from among the teaching staff. 

No more than a simple interview. Migration officials and the teaching staff will actually alone decide on the granting of citizenship. While in the central regions this process is likely to be organised according to the law, it is not possible to guarantee the same level of lawfulness in the "depth of the country." The question is, who will control the judges? Why a more complex system of language testing has not been developed, such as embedded, for example, in the well-known Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)? After all, a successful completion of the TOEFL and IELTS requires certain preparation even from advanced users of English, and most importantly, they are almost completely anonymous and transparent.

Is it a threat to other countries?

Meanwhile, the Kremlin's initiative to take under its wing virtually all those wishing to come sparked criticism and suspicion. People began to express their concern - both in social networks and in some of the media - that the simplified process of obtaining Russian citizenship may then be used by Moscow, as a minimum, for enhancing its influence in the CIS countries and, as a maximum, for "annexing parts of the territory of sovereign states under the pretext of protecting fellow countrymen." The term "fellow countrymen" presumably refers to all those wishing to obtain Russian citizenship. The areas considered to be "most dangerous" in this respect have already been named - eastern Ukraine, northern Kazakhstan, Transnistria.

Such aspects as the regulation of renouncing one's previous citizenship acquire special importance here. According to the Russian Constitution, every citizen may freely obtain citizenship of another country without losing the citizenship of the Russian Federation (though concealment of the fact of the second citizenship is discouraged). Russia recognises dual citizenship only in respect of those States which have signed the corresponding agreements with it, while in all other cases a person is considered to be a citizen of Russia alone. Currently, Moscow has fully coordinated the dual citizenship issue with Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. That is, the inhabitants of these countries which received Russian citizenship can actually continue to live at home.

With regard to international practice, Argentina, for example, recognises either the Spanish or Italian passport. Dual citizenship is also recognised by Israel, Greece, Brazil, Turkey and some other countries. Meanwhile, residents of Denmark, Norway, Japan, China, India, Kazakhstan and a number of other countries are prohibited from having dual citizenship.

As noted by Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Xalaf Xalafov, "each country has its own immigration policy; the granting of citizenship is governed by domestic law, and this is the sovereign right." Xalafov further pointed out that if the Russian law bears on the interests of other countries, then those countries may make changes in their legislation in order to protect their own interests.

"If this applies to Azerbaijan, I believe that such issues should be solved in accordance with the law and on the basis of mutual respect. They can be regulated on the state-by-state basis too. For example, a number of countries have signed bilateral agreements on the avoidance of double citizenship. These agreements define the way in which dual citizenship comes into being and legal mechanisms that can help prevent it. We have not encountered such problems as yet. But should it happen in the future, the problem will be solved within the framework of migration policy and legislation of our country," Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister said.

Migrants: a new twist

Next question: how the new law is going to affect Russia's migration policy, which is continuously being twisted and changed to extremes. Everybody remembers that after last year's mass demonstrations caused by ethnic violence in Moscow's Biryulevo District there were proposals to introduce visas nearly for all citizens of the CIS. And suddenly, after only six months, there are talks on the abolition of immigration quotas and legalisation of all migrants who are able to adequately perceive the "socio- cultural and emotional features of speech" of their examiners on Russian (!). Given that currently there are, according to various estimates, about 11 million migrant workers in Russia, the overall picture is impressive.

Some philosophy by way of conclusion

Leaving aside the economy (the growing number of Russian pensioners, the burden on the budget in terms of social benefits, etc.) as well as any political matters (including the above concerns), one cannot help but think about philosophical issues. Multinational Russia has been wise enough not to link a simplified procedure of obtaining citizenship with ethnicity. Emphasis was only placed on the knowledge of the Russian language.

Meanwhile, the content of and proposals for the draft "Principles of the State Cultural Policy" developed by the Russian Ministry of Culture were published by the Russian media on 10 April. According to this document, culture (a historically established system of values and ethics) is recognised as the unifying framework of the Russian society. This refers specifically to Russian culture and to Russia as a distinctive civilisation that is neither Europe nor Asia and therefore is unique and original. Here we are actually talking about ideology.

Curiously, the draft rejects such principles as multiculturalism and tolerance that are sacred to the liberal model of thinking. Tolerance must not overstep the line beyond which there is "capitulation of Russian identity to alien value systems." The rejection of the policy of multiculturalism means, roughly speaking, a course to ensure that nations, which are integrated into the Russian state, accept common (Russian) culture and give up their ethnic and cultural features that are alien to Russian culture.

In this context, and referring to the law on a simplified procedure of granting citizenship, it is impossible to divest oneself of the question: can it be that the only criterion - "the ability to adequately speak Russian" - is a sufficient argument in favour of deciding whether a person belongs to Russian culture? After all, a passport can make a person a citizen of any country, but it cannot automatically instil love for a  new motherland and help appreciate the new system of values or share the common ideology. Does it mean that the implications of the new Law on Russian Citizenship are far ahead of the effect of the Russian "soft power" that is still very shy and timid? The future examiners of the applicants are going to like the conclusion that suggests itself. It may well be that changes in the law on granting Russian citizenship are long overdue, but the adopted law still looks a little … immature.