Külügyi Szemle - A Teleki László Intézet Külpolitikai Tanulmányok Központja folyóirata - 2003 (2. évfolyam)
2003 / 3. szám - EURÓPA - Sáfi Csaba: A Few Words on the Federal Law on State policy of the Russian Federation with regard to Fellow Countrymen Abroad
A Few Words on the Federal Law on State Policy of the Russian Federation • the establishment of and unimpeded contribution to relations among fellow countrymen and between them and the Russian Federation, the reception of information from the RF; • the establishment of national-cultural autonomies, social organisations, mass media and the participation in the activities and work thereof; • the national- and international-level participation in the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and • the contribution to the development of mutually advantageous relations between the country in which fellow citizens live and the RF, although what this implies is not made tangible later on either. At the same time, one can say in connection to the above-mentioned goals that • the means of their fulfilment are not clearly defined in the law, • despite their positive phrasing, they seem objectives with too general of a scope. Among the phrases that seem ambiguous, one can point out that while the title of Article 17 refers to the cultural, linguistic, and educational assistance to be given to fellow countrymen, according to Section 6 of the Article, participation in state-financed middle and higher education under conditions equal to those applying to RF citizens is granted in the case of former Soviet citizens only. The gravity of citizenship debates among the successor states of the former Soviet Union is indicated by the phrase of the law (Article 11) that the citizens of the RF can possess dual citizenship. It follows from this that the persons possessing a foreign citizenship or, in lack of this, those who were citizens of the Soviet Union, emigrated, or are direct-line descendants of fellow citizens, can apply for Russian citizenship unhindered. According to the law, those persons can be citizens of the RF who possessed Soviet citizenship or are direct-line descendants of these, and have not declared out of their free will that they want to belong to the citizenship of another country. At the same time, the possibility of the acquisition of Russian citizenship - in the Baltic states especially - makes the situation of stateless persons even more difficult if the country of their residence, with reference to this section of the law, refrains even more from granting them citizenship. Within the CIS, Russia has, de jure, a bilateral treaty on dual citizenship with Tajikistan21 and Turkmenistan22 only. De facto, however, the citizenship situation is such that numerous persons of Russian citizenship live in the CIS member states who, besides the citizenship of the state of their residence, also possess Russian citizenship. This fact may prove to be a potential source of danger both with regard to the practical implementation of the law and in other interstate fields as well. 2003. osz 47
