By Vestnik Kavkaza
Yesterday the heads of both houses of the Russian parliament conducted a joint session of the Presidium of the Council of Legislators of the Russian Federation and the Consultative Council for Inter-ethnic Relations and Cooperation with Religious Organizations under the Federation Council. The main topic for discussion was implementation of the federal ethnic policy in Russian regions. The speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, stressed that, due to the importance of inter-ethnic issues, it was unacceptable to reduce budget expenditure at the expense of state programs on inter-ethnic relations.
Victor Grin, the deputy General Prosecutor of Russia, agrees with the head of the Federation Council. According to Grin, the results of the prosecution’s checks still reveal a shallow attitude on the part of the authorities and heads of regions to the problem, absence or underfunding of state programs, and weak coordination by leaders of regions. “Drawbacks were revealed in Bashkiria, the Saratov and Rostov Regions, and in Moscow. They are typical for most of regions, and unfortunately they are typical for all constituents at the local level. Under such conditions it is obvious that we need consolidation of efforts on implementation of the state ethnic policy at the federal, regional, and local levels,” Victor Grin said.
According to him, despite the fact that more than 1.5 thousand ethnic-cultural autonomies are registered in Russia, 22 of which have federal status, in reality there is no cooperation with them at the federal level; while at the regional level the interests of representatives of certain ethnic groups are often discussed within consultative and other structures without the participation of ethnic-cultural autonomies. “They have broad rights, but in fact they have no opportunity to use their rights due to underfunding. I think it is necessary to involve the form of self-realization of citizens more actively into the organization of state and regional programs in the sphere of ethnic education and the social and cultural integration of migrants,” the deputy general prosecutor believes.
Victor Grin stated that inter-ethnic relations in Russia depend on ethnic confessional culture: “Most of all it concerns the North Caucasus, the Volga Region, and the south of Russia. We are still concerned about the intervention of non-traditional movements of Islam from abroad. While in the 1990s it was provided by foreign preachers, today it is provided by our own young people, who receive religious education abroad. According to the law-enforcement agencies and federal security services, several thousand Russian citizens have already received or are now receiving education in foreign countries; this is an additional factor of inter-ethnic tension. Thus, it is important to support Russian religious education and state monitoring in the sphere.”
“One of the main reasons for extremism is the problem of migration, either internal or external. The analysis shows that the main factor which influences the spread of extremist attitudes in Russia is the growth in the number of people from the south of Russia in economically-developed and stable regions of the country, as well as poorly-controlled migration flows from the CIS countries. These aspects increase social tensions and create the basis for a united extremist direction and lead to ethnic conflicts,” the deputy general prosecutor said.
Valery Ryazansky, the chairman of the Committee for Social Policy under the Federation Council, explained the topic of the joint session by the fact that first of all legislators want to know the point of view of regions, as people live and work together, study at school and university, and face problems in everyday life there. According to Ryazansky, even though laws in the sphere are quite clear (there is a law on guarantees of native ethnic groups’ rights, on language, on cultural issues), they don’t work well in the regions.
Valery Ryazansky cited the positive example of the Kursk Region: “There are almost 1.2 million residents in the region, and 142 ethnic groups. And indeed there are no conflicts. I have participated in various events – solemn ceremonies, folklore and religious events in the Armenian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Tatar and other diasporas… The serious and thoughtful work by the administration is obvious in the development of the strategy of state ethnic policy, including the involvement of ethnic social organizations in public discussion of all drafts on the topic in the Kursk Region; educational programs for kindergartens and schools; work with students; attention paid to the Russian language that unites us all. These are problems of broadcasting by the mass media to prevent tendencies of not publishing articles on national traditions of certain ethnic groups which live in the region. All-city and all-regional events. Development of peoples’ art and crafts. Regional festivals, student art festivals, peace marches, a friendship camp, the folklore festival of Samotsvety.”
Ryazansky noted that providing coordinated work by the administration and social organizations led to a positive attitude of people of different nationalities toward each other: “On People’s Unity Day or the Day of Russia people of different nationalities bake a big cake; and it is done by a Tatar, a Jew, a Dagestani, a Russian and so on; and when they give pieces of the cake to guests of the festival, the mood of the city is changing for the better. I think they are right to focus on the practical character of the events which are conducted in regions. This is a source of peaceful life of ethnic groups, and this is a source of possible troubles, if the policy is provided in the wrong way.”
