Moscow could recognize those who speak Russian as "compatriots"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lawmaker Konstantin Zatulin from the United Russia party has submitted a bill to the State Duma proposing to recognize as "compatriots" all those who speak Russian, TASS reports.

The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot".

In particular, it is proposed to recognize persons "who speak Russian and belong to the peoples historically living on the territory of Russia" as "compatriots", as well as those persons "whose direct ancestors were born or lived on the territory of the Russian Federation."

The move "takes into account that over the past 30 years since the collapse of the USSR, a new generation of compatriots who did not have USSR citizenship has grown up. In this regard, the connection with the citizenship of the USSR has been excluded from the definition of the concept of "compatriot," the document says.