Beyond Crimea: The New Russian Empire

^{t. Ukaz Presidenta Rossiyskoy Federatsii ot 07.05.2012 № 605, “O merakh po realizatsii vneshnepoliticheskogo kursa Rossiyskoy Federatsii,” http://kremlin.ru/acts/15256.}

^{u. See more in Grigory B. Karasin, “Russian World Is Becoming a Reality,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta, 24 October 2012, http://www.mid.ru/bdomp/brp_4.nsf/f68cd37b84711611c3256f6d00541094/35bddd904894089944257aae004c4b41!OpenDocument.}

^{v. Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, 12 February 2012, http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/76389FEC168189ED44257B2E0039B16D.}

^{w. Ibid.}

^{x. Gosudarstvennoy Dumy Federalnogo Sobranija Rossiyskoy Federatsii ot 04.04.2014 № 4077–6 GD, “O Federal’nom zakone ‘O vnesenii izmeneniy v stat’i 14 i 27 Federal’nogo zakona “O grazhdanstve Rossiyskoy Federatsii”’ (proyekt № 417698–6),” http://www.rg.ru/2014/04/23/grazhdanstvodok.html.}

^{y. “On Submission to the State Duma of a Draft Law Simplifying Procedures for Receiving Russian Citizenship for Some Categories of Foreigners,” The Russian Government, 4 March 2014, http://government.ru/en/news/10896.}

Once again, while claiming the Russian compatriots for itself, Moscow had little intention of letting them return to the homeland, even stipulating a “restriction of uncontrolled migration in Russia.”⁷⁸ In 2001 this decision was somewhat surprising. On the one hand Russia was still recovering from the financial crisis of 1998, and probably could not have borne the costs of an influx of millions of immigrants. On the other hand, global oil prices were beginning to rise rapidly and Russia’s wealth was increasing, resulting in a rising need for additional labor especially in the face of Russia’s demographic crisis.⁷⁹ Furthermore, Putin clearly stated in October 2001, “Russia is interested in having Russians return from abroad”⁸⁰ and admitted that previous work with Russian compatriots had not been effective. Nonetheless, the early 2000s also marked a time of rigid Russian immigration policies.⁸¹ Accordingly, the 2001 Concept largely preserved Russia’s older policies vis-à-vis Russians abroad, focusing on assisting their “adjustment and integration into the life of countries of residence while voluntarily preserving their ethnic and cultural identity.”⁸²

The year 2002 was a turning point for conceptualizing the Russian compatriots. At the end of May Putin signed “Federal Law No. 62-FZ On Russian Federation Citizenship.” The new law toughened the general naturalization rules in comparison to the law of 1991, but on the other hand, enabled the stateless former Soviet Union citizens to get Russian passports more easily.⁸³ Right after this law came into force, mass Russian passportization started in Georgia, where application centers were established even in the most remote areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to official Russian sources, in four years after the beginning of this policy in 2002 the proportion of Russian citizens in Abkhazia increased from 30 percent to 80 percent and in South Ossetia from 40 percent to 90 percent by 2006.⁸⁴