Ethnic Russians Face Even More Challenges than Do Non-Russians in Preserving Their Culture, Moscow’s Nationality Policy Chief Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 25 – In explaining why 80 percent of the steps outlined in the new nationality policy strategy document are directed at the ethnic Russian majority rather than the non-Russians, Igor Barinov says that “the state-forming people experience … perhaps even more pressure in preserving their spiritual and moral values” than do non-Russians.

            The head of the Federal Agency for Nationality Policy said that on the release of a draft of a new strategy document for Moscow’s nationality policy (business-gazeta.ru/article/676004). (For a discussion of that document itself, see  jamestown.org/program/moscows-nationality-policy-to-promote-ethnic-russians-and-counter-threats-from-others/.)

            Barinov also declared that “for the first time, the text of the strategy will include a separate direction on preserving the traditions, customs, and culture of the Russian people who form the state.For some reason, we were embarrassed to talk about this before, maybe we didn't pay enough attention, and we thought that these issues would resolve themselves.”

            According to the FADN director who oversaw the preparation of this document, “we have singled this out as a separate direction. We believe that depending on how the Russian people feel, this will also apply to all large and small ethnic groups living in our country. If it is good for Russians, it will be good for everyone!" (emphasis added)

            Two other Russian specialists on nationality policy also commented on these changes. Academician Valery Tishkov, a former Russian nationalities minister noted that, “nationality policy had been seen as only about minorities … The majority was outside its scope even though [the Russian nation] also has its own problems and interests.”

            And Vladimir Zorin, the last person to serve as Russia’s nationalities affairs minister, agreed. He said that the new draft represents a significant improvement precisely because it devotes “special attention to the preservation and development of the culture of the Russian people as ‘a unique tie binding together civil society.’”

            But in commenting on the draft strategy document, a Tatar pointed to its shortcomings. Ilnar Garifullin, a longtime Tatar activist, said that he and other Tatars are disappointed that the new paper doesn’t speak about “the need to support and create language centers for the major peoples of the Russian Federation.”

            Such people also “need support for the preservation of their identities; and if the experts of FADN had proceeded seriously, they would have understood that the support of non-Russian-language compatriots abroad is also something that would serve to strengthen the position of Russia.”

            Garifullin also pointed to the “Russo-centric” nature of the new draft and noted that the document says “practically nothing about the support of cultural multiplicity,” despite efforts to proclaim that that is one of the goals of the document itself. Specifically, “there is nothing about the language issue which today is the most important thing agitating the peoples of the RF.”

            He also highlighted another change that the new draft has introduced: “In the former strategy there was no suggestion that all the problems [in nationality affairs] came from abroad and that everything in the country is good.” It looks like FADN wants to avoid responsibility by insisting that “if there are problems, then it isn’t we who are guilty but external forces.”

            “In my view,” Garifullin concluded, “this is irresponsible because FADN was set up to solve these problems and not lay responsibility in advance for them on external forces.”