The bill was submitted by Konstantin Zatulin, a deputy from the ruling party “United Russia”, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots.
According to the draft law, Article 1 of the Law on Public Policy of the Russian Federation proposes to indicate that only those who speak Russian may be recognized as compatriots abroad without citizens of the Russian Federation.
According to the explanatory memorandum attached to the draft law, proficiency in the Russian language is “a necessary condition for fulfilling the constitutional requirement for the state to ensure the Russian cultural identity of compatriots living abroad”.
“If the state takes care of those who, while living abroad, preserve their Russian cultural identity, one of the components of which is the knowledge of the Russian language common to all Russians, then, of course, the term ‘compatriot’ should include Russian language skills,” the explanatory memorandum said.
According to various sources, between 18 and 25 million people with Russian roots live outside Russia’s borders.
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