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 Moldova, where two thirds of the population is not Slavic but almost wholly Orthodox Christian, moreover in Ukraine and Belarus that have mostly Orthodox Christian inhabitants who are, at the same time, Eastern Slavs. One can see a similarly varied picture when considers the living standard, economic potential, policy toward national minorities, and the relations with Russia within the successor states or examines as to what extent the fellow countrymen living in the given country form solid blocks geographically. • Economic and financial constraints. The assistance given to and the promotion of the social integration of the fellow countrymen would be such a great burden to the Russian state budget that the country can hardly afford it in the current or even in an improving economic situation. The assistance transferred under this title, however, even remains below the sum that the country could undertake. The assistance provided to fellow countrymen amounted to slightly more than 50 million roubles in 1999.11 This negligible sum, not even with the best intentions, can be called assistance but only "symptomatic treatment" at best, which can seal the holes temporarily and serve to "satisfy" the conscience of the granters. • Corruption. At the same time, the lack of internal resources cannot be used to explain everything. That is, the appropriation of the sums to be used as assistance was hampered by the enormous corruption which can be described as general in the post-Soviet region - the fellow countrymen and their organisations are not exceptions. In Ukraine, Moldova, and Azerbaijan, those Russian communities that managed to procure financial assistance often disintegrated even more. Moreover, the situation was rendered more complicated by the fact that on several occasions anti-Russian or anti-Russia organisations also received assistance.12 • Difficulties of the social integration of fellow countrymen. Immigration from former republics and remigration directed to these have set not only the economy but also the Russian society tasks difficult to resolve. Up to the present, Russia has had a hard time coping with the masses of Russian or Russian-speaking refugees and ones of other nationalities arriving from the "Near Abroad". Since these people do not receive neither enough financial nor adequate moral support for starting all over again and integrating or re-integrating into Russian society, they may appear as sources of potential risks and destabilising factors. From among them, it is especially those arriving from Central Asia who suffer the bulk of negative discrimination. Despite their Russian nationality, many consider them Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmenian, or Kazakh persons. • Lack of effective interest asserting organs of fellow countrymen and the weakness of their ability to assert their interests. The Russian and Russian-speaking population that now lives in the "Near Abroad" continues to trust primarily the help of Russia in the 2003. ősz 33
