Support for compatriots living abroad in the regions of the Siberian Federal District (1991-2014)

Support for Russian compatriots living abroad is a new direction of foreign policy of the Russian Federation, conditioned by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the deterioration of the Russian-speaking population in the ex-Soviet republics, as well as by the destruction of a single political, socio-economic, cultural and information space and the role of Russia in the former Soviet Union territory. Activities in this area were assigned to the federal level of government, but since the 1990s it was a trend to attract Russian districts and strengthen the regional dimension of the policy to support the compatriots abroad. The priority of regional activities in the humanitarian and socio-cultural spheres, as well as the establishment of strongest relationships with specific countries and regions of compatriots' residence will allow to provide a more "targeted" support than it is possible at the federal level. The example of the regions of the Siberian Federal District (SFD) showed that the main focus of regional activities in the interaction with compatriots is migration (through participation in a government program to facilitate the voluntary resettlement of compatriots living abroad in Russia). It is due to the desire to use labor and demographic resources of migrants to alleviate the regional socio-demographic problems (primarily, the reduction of the working-age population number). In the 2000s there is an intensification of the activities of SFD regions in support of compatriots living outside of Russia (mainly in the socio-cultural field). Meanwhile, regional activities in this direction seem to be insufficient, owing to the lack of historical experience of the activities, incomplete idea of the ideology of supporting compatriots, as well as the lack of financial support from the federal government and extra-budgetary sources. In addition, in most regions, the policy of compatriot support is not allocated as a separate foreign policy activity. This leads, on the one hand, to a reduced use of regional potential, on the other hand, to the difficulties in the reporting on the implementation of the policy of supporting compatriots abroad and the inability to target funding and experience sharing among other Russian regions. Despite this, a number of SFD regions already have some experience in this field. In order to intensify the exchange of experience between the Siberian regions, the government needs to form a system of vertical and horizontal relationships through an increase of the coordinating role of Moscow as the historically first Russian entity operating in this area. Secondly, Altai Krai and Omsk Oblast must become leaders among SFD regions. This, along with the strengthening of horizontal interactions between the Siberian regions caused by close socioeconomic, historical, climatic and other conditions, will allow a systematic exchange of experience in regional activities, and, as a consequence, to provide comprehensive support to our compatriots abroad.

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