Boxer Konstantin Tsu, left, and Communist Party Leader Gennady Zyuganov, right, attend the 2nd World Congress of Compatriots Living Abroad held in St. Petersburg October 24, 2006.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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The Generous Motherland
The World Congress of Compatriots Living Abroad opened in St. Petersburg Tuesday, October 24, 2006. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who arrived to attend the event, generously offered the state support ranging from financial aid to remigration to Russia.
The St. Petersburg Congress of Compatriots lured 600 participants from 100 countries worldwide. Supporting compatriots is “the national priority of Russia,” the authorities of the country made clear during the event.
In line with this rhetoric, Russia’s President Putin told delegates about government’s program for backing up compatriots in 2006 to 2008. The annual budget is around 340 million rubles, Putin said, passing on to the remigration program, which funding is much more generous – 4.6 billion rubles in 2007.
But judging by the speeches of compatriots living abroad, they are not very eager to return to Russia. “Not everyone is ready to leave Kazakhstan on terms offered by Russian authorities,” said Alexey Lobanov, head of the Kazakh delegation at the Congress. Miron Ignat, who chairs Russia’s community in Romania, was even more explicit. Even though unemployment is the key problem of Russians in Romania, they may go to Russia only to earn money, he said.
Instead of remigration, the delegates suggested widening financial support to the Russian Diasporas so that they could withstand oppression of local nationalists. In this respect, the real find of the Congress was exploiting unfavorable environment generated by clashes with Georgia. Valery Svarchuk, who chairs the Union of Russian Compatriots in Georgia, drew attention to the crackdown on Russians in that country.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 25, 2006
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