Kremlin’s Failure to Focus on Nationality Problems Threatens Survival of Russian Federation, Fetisov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 19 – For 20 years, the Kremlin has failed to address nationality issues in the Russian Federation and worked hard to keep the systemic parties from doing so; but as a result, now that the issue of migrants has risen to the top, the country finds itself at risk of moving along a path like the one that led to the demise of the USSR, Dmitry Fetisov says.

            The political scientist who is a frequent commentator for the Club of the Regions portal says that the issue of immigrants has been “artificially” exacerbated by the media and would never have gotten so serious had it not been for the Kremlin’s insistence that the systemic parties not talk about it earlier (club-rf.ru/theme/591 ).

            In the Kremlin itself, Fetisov continues, there are both supporters and opponents of toughening policies regulating immigration. “But the parties have not been addressing this problem.” The last to do so was Rodina in the 2005 Moscow city elections; and after that, the Putin regime ordered the systemic parties not to touch this issue lest it spark inter-ethnic conflict.

            But now that the issue of immigrants has captured the minds of so many Russians, the failure of the parliamentary parties to address it seriously means that there is a danger that the Russian people will turn to extra-systemic parties and that there may arise “large protest actins which we have not seen for a long time,” the political scientist says.

            Indeed, he argues, “this is a dangerous situation as it actually was one of the main reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union.” When officials failed to address problems agitating the people, the people turned to others. Addressing the migrant issue requires the cooperation of all branches of government, but the legislative one, under pressure from the Kremlin, isn’t involved.

            According to Fetisov, Putin’s decision to disband the ministry for nationality affairs was “one of the major mistakes” he has made because it allowed those not focused on the issue of ethnic conflicts to take actions, such as lobbyists for the construction industry, who want to have cheap labor, to take actions that now threaten the country.