In the Russian state Duma considered the draft law on the simplified granting citizenship of the Russian Federation for Ukrainians. Moreover, in the discussion of a draft law, which provides for facilitated obtaining Russian passports to all Russian-speaking citizens of other countries of the former USSR.
Naturally, in the case of adoption of law it will apply and the countries of the South Caucasus. Its political component is obvious — the concept of “Russian” can be interpreted as anything depending on what is considered appropriate at this time.
Who is he, Russian?
In fact, this initiative is not something unique and special. Quite a few States, quite developed and civilized, recognize the principle of blood ties and cultural similarities — Israel accepts all Jews, Germany and all ethnic Germans and even a small and poor Latvia is ready to grant citizenship to anyone who can prove their Latvian roots.
So nothing criminal, no Imperial-nationalist specifically in this. However, the concept “Russian-speaking” is making quite a bit of confusion — you never know who may be a Russian? The Germans, for example, invite not abstract, “Germanic”, namely the Germans.
However, a political reason for the adoption of the law is obvious — everything, including sport or cultivation of tulips in Russia is politics.
Cases when countries have open borders and provided the passport is not based on ethnicity, but on the principle of long living together under a single Empire — much less, but they are still there, and, usually, such experiments are not very good.
So, French, long nostalgiaville for the collapse of the Empire and the sense of his own greatness, did something stupid, and announced an open door policy for citizens of its former colonies.
The French are now banging your head against the wall, knowing that this policy has led to excessive migration, which resulted in the answer to the question, how is called the closest to the Paris Arab city — sounds “the Marseille”… Good or bad — is not for us to judge, but the growing influence of right-wing sentiment, especially in the provinces, shows that the French but this reality does not particularly like.
However, the main difference between all these options and what is now doing, is another.
The main principle of attracting masses of foreign citizens from different countries of the world is quasi-syndrome: become the center of the universe for immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Why and who needs it and what use is that Russia itself is a specific issue, but the problem is not only and not even the fact that the phrase “Russian-speaking” in the interpretation of bureaucrats will have a variety of options.
The main problem is that, as the Russian saying goes, a good spoon for dinner… This initiative was delayed for at least 15 years, and that in the most optimistic case.
Moscow! How much of this sound…
More recently, Russia has been attractive to our citizens. It was believed that the Russians have something we do not have — hard work, order, obedience to the law, the ability to stand in a queue, a certain level of honesty and integrity, penchant for good education.
Remember the late scoop and how strikingly different Russia from the South Caucasus countries. Our countrymen could not save enough money to study in their own country, and went to settle in universities throughout the Soviet Union, mainly in Russia, where smart could be students without patronage, and the nerds was that it required significantly less money.
In those years, Russian students pored over books, lived in the Dorm and went to College by bus, and our fatten in rented apartments, books not picked up even before exams, and the most popular anecdote about Caucasians in those days was about the fact that “the suitcase is not a sheep in the suitcase kickback. And the RAM is at the University.”
Remember that while talking about Central Asia and the Caucasus? “There is no Soviet power”. And it was true. Not have the power not only Soviet, but in General no.
In those years Russia was extremely attractive to us is the relative order that there was in the 70-80-ies, contrasted with complete chaos.
Moscow was the center of everything in the post-Soviet space. Not had a successful career in addition to career in Moscow, had no education better than that obtained in Moscow. The best theatres of the Union was in Moscow, the best actors, athletes, scientists around the Soviet Union rushed to the capital, where, in contrast to their own republics, they had the opportunity to make a career without having a battalion of relatives in different places.
Moscow was a centre which attracted all. Then the USSR fell apart, but the attraction of Russia is not over.
90 years in our countries were held under the auspices of the inertial attraction big neighbor to the North.
For example, almost all the migration at that time was aimed at Russia. What is Europe, what America is, then who even knew that there are Europe and America? All who sought to escape from the chaos of war and chaos, fled to Russia.
And then Russia was attractive to us. Remember one characteristic time point. In 1994, he was in Moscow, and in one of the local cafes saw a few bandits. The local “lads”. The one about which you now say in the spirit of “dashing 90-e”.
Sure, they were dashing, and the tale creates a lot of problems in Russia today.
But then, in the early ‘ 90s, everything looked completely different: “Well, you can even gangsters look and behave more or less decently…”.
Yes! The way it was. Frostbitten Russian thugs in the background of our story almost seemed like decent people…
And so even in 90-ies Russia was extremely attractive. Against the background of our mess there, everything looked more or less decently and by the rules… like this is probably different from the Italian mafia, Somali.
90 years is the era of the complete domination of Russia in our collective consciousness — if to go somewhere in Russia, time in Russia, in exile in Russia, best product — Russia, export to Russia, were guests from Russia, I want to get a decent education — there…
Russian television looks like an Assembly of the demigods, the Russian show-business was blazing with lights, while our cities were buried in darkness and hopelessness…
Is America and Europe. Not only lodestar
Ask yourself, when you started to call their country “a country” and how many years already in the period of independence modestly said that “in our country”… How many years did it take you to stop calling yourself a “Republic” and finally go to “the country”?
Then take the state Duma of the Russian Federation the decision on the simplified procedure for issuing passports — the volunteers would be lined up, and Moscow could choose a better one.
But! Time goes by, and what was true yesterday is already a little interested today.
Our country over the years the hard way, which is what we all like in Russia today there is, and she, on the contrary, gained in recent years, many features that we, the Caucasians, not like in yourself.
Russia is hopelessly lost those advantages which were in the eyes of its former vassals in the 90-ies. She is only slightly ahead of Caucasian countries in economic development, the political system is at least no better, crime — similarly, the General order of magnitude smaller, the level of corruption — in the best case — not less.
Migrants are no longer fleeing to Moscow and St. Petersburg — there is, of course, a lot of Georgians, Azerbaijanis and Armenians, but it’s mostly those who came there just in the 90-ies. Today’s migration flows is Europe, States, Turkey, Israel…
That is, not that in Russia do not go. Go live, take citizenship, marry, marry, cooperate, trade, doing business. Same as Ukraine, Germany, Turkey to any other country.
And all the years, did not directly so much worse than it was. We just grew a little bit. We can say that the feeling of superiority of Russia is… the Country as a country that is better, but it gets worse… But is not the guiding star and not the promised land…
Because I was late, the initiative of Russian deputies… for 15 Years at least.
