The desire of ill-wishers to split Russians living in different countries of the world is futile. This statement was made on Friday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, opening the 7th World Congress of Russian Compatriots. On the first day of the forum, Russian officials, diplomats and delegates from around the world discussed ways to protect compatriots from “persecution and discrimination.” As it turned out, representatives of the “Russian world” have a lot of problems: this is “tough pressure” on the Russian language, and “wild campaigns” against the Russian media, and attempts to instill a sense of “inferiority” in history. In general, as Tatyana Moskalkova, the human rights ombudsman in the Russian Federation, summed up at the forum, “being Russian is not easy”.
The World Congress of Russian Compatriots Living Abroad is taking place on a special scale this year: 400 delegates from 102 countries of the world take part in the two-day event. The names of the Friday plenary discussions spoke for themselves: “The Russian World and the Challenges of Our Time” and “Historical Truth and Preservation of Identity”.
In the welcoming speech of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, which was read out to the delegates, it was noted that the forum “takes place after the introduction of a provision into the Constitution on the protection of the rights and interests of compatriots, on the preservation of the all-Russian cultural identity.” Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko also recalled this in a video message, noting: “the cornerstone of building a new, durable and reliable building of the Russian world” has been established, so now you can focus on practical dimensions of work to consolidate compatriots.
The participants in the meeting focused on this. During the day of the forum, many ambitious ideas were expressed.
Perhaps the most discussed was the proposal by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to automatically grant citizenship to children from mixed marriages, in which one of the parents is a Russian.
This idea was greeted in the hall with applause. The special representative of the President of the Russian Federation for international cultural cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoi came up with another idea: “The clause on the protection of compatriots should be included in bilateral agreements with other countries.” There were also proposals to open Russian schools in all countries friendly to the Russian Federation, to develop a system of branches of Russian universities in the CIS countries, to simplify the procedure for obtaining citizenship.
An unusual idea was expressed by the editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya media group and RT TV channel Margarita Simonyan. “I would like to address the wealthy people of Russia from this rostrum. Each million rubles, from the loss of which you will not become impoverished, can help save the fate of our compatriot, who is being wrongfully tortured abroad, ”she said. Ms Simonyan especially mentioned one such person – it was the ex-head of the RIA Novosti Ukraine portal, Kirill Vyshinsky, who was in custody in Kiev in 2018–2019.
The participants of the forum paid the main attention to the challenges faced by the “Russian world”.
First, as Sergey Lavrov pointed out, discrimination against compatriots on the basis of language… “With the connivance of the so-called liberal democracies of the West, as well as the bureaucracy of the European Union, the expulsion of the Russian language from the public sphere of the Baltic states, Ukraine, Georgia continues,” he said. And on the same day, right in the hall, he began to defend the Russian language: after the speech of the Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova, he said that “the Russian word” authorized “and” authorized “is much closer to him.”
Secondly, as noted by the forum participants, many problems arise around the root misinterpretations of Russian history… Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia paid special attention to this topic, making a video message. He pointed out: the Russian Federation is faced with “attempts to deprive it of the historical truth”, “by means of a distorted presentation of facts, to instill in Russians a sense of false guilt, some kind of inferiority.” “To present, for example, the victims of the Second World War as aggressors and occupiers, to make heroes of traitors and accomplices,” the patriarch explained. In this regard, Sergei Lavrov thanked all the forum participants for “active opposition to historical revisionism.”
Third, people suffer for faith… In this regard, Patriarch Kirill recalled “the case of violence against a Russian boy in a training camp that took place this summer in one of the neighboring countries of Russia” (more precisely, in Kyrgyzstan). “They mocked him, they beat him because he dared to testify of his faith,” said the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. And he summed up: “Today there is a serious demand for the formation of a security system for compatriots abroad.”
Fourth, problems are faced mass media, which was described in detail by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova. “Systemic discrimination against Russian-language domestic media and the media of compatriots has become commonplace in the Euro-Atlantic space. It has become a visiting card in Ukraine, I don’t want to think that Germany is approaching this campaign, ”she said, commenting on earlier information that YouTube video hosting has deleted two German RT channels without the possibility of recovery. “We see what a hunt has begun on the Russian-language media and the media of compatriots to influence them to recruit them into their own anti-Russian ranks,” continued Mrs. Zakharova. bloggers in the Russian-speaking segment of social networks. This is done both to create conditions for interference in the affairs of our country, and to work in the diaspora abroad, in order to embroil people. “
Fifth, goes pressure on too active representatives of the “Russian world”… “The activists of diaspora structures are under severe pressure, including with the use of administrative levers, censorship, and selective enforcement. It comes to openly Russophobic actions, ”said Sergei Lavrov. Elena Branson, chairman of the Coordinating Council of Organizations of Russian Compatriots in the United States, confirmed this in an interview with RT. “There are many ill-wishers in America, many Russophobes. There are established groups that write denunciations against us, ”she told interviewer Maria Butina, who was convicted in the United States on charges of acting in the interests of Russia and was imprisoned there in 2018-2019.
Alarming tendencies were confirmed by Tatyana Moskalkova: “The number of appeals from Russian-speaking citizens to the commissioner with requests to protect their rights and legitimate interests is growing. This year alone, more than a thousand such complaints were recorded. The geography of requests for assistance covers dozens of countries: Ukraine, Turkey, USA, Latvia, Uzbekistan and many others. ” The essence of the ombudsman’s speech (and of the entire first day of the forum) could be reduced to her phrase addressed to the participants:
“In general, it is not easy to be a Russian, and each of you is convinced of this in one way or another.”
One way or another, as the participants of the Congress assured, the enemies still fail to achieve their goals. “Attempts by ill-wishers to split compatriots, dilute their identity, embroil with historical Russia are futile. Despite all the difficulties, representatives of our communities with dignity defend their right to maintain ties with the Motherland, to participate in its fate, to participate in cultural and economic projects, ”Sergei Lavrov assured.
During the forum, one of its participants, representing Israel, clearly demonstrated that everything is in order with the maintenance of ties and involvement. First, he asked Sergei Lavrov to convey “a deep bow to their beloved President Vladimir Putin,” whom “Israelis, who even have nothing to do with the USSR” would like to see as their president. And then he thanked the minister for everything he does “for cooperation and peace throughout the world,” and presented him with a velvet black robe embroidered with gold. “This is for you as a marshal of compatriots,” the speaker added. Sergei Lavrov at first decided to laugh it off with a smile, but still did not refuse the “marshal’s robe”.
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