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Exit and Voice in the Near Abroad: Russian Minority Populations in Kyrgyzstan and Latvia

Michele E. Commercio, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies, Georgetown University

Date & Time

Monday
Mar. 28, 2005
10:00am – 11:00am ET

Overview

At a recent Kennan Institute talk, Michele E. Commercio, Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Eurasian and East European Studies, Georgetown University, presented her research on the different attitudes and actions of Russian minority populations in Kyrgyzstan and Latvia.

During the Soviet era, Russians were encouraged to move to the other republics within the USSR, including Latvia and Kyrgyzstan. These ethnic Russians enjoyed a privileged status and access to the best jobs in industry and in government. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, millions of ethnic Russians found themselves in a foreign country overnight. Predictions of mass unrest or migration back to Russia did not happen as some predicted. Commercio conducted survey research among the ethnic Russian populations in Kyrgyzstan and Latvia to determine what were the motivations for those who chose to go to Russia, and those who chose to stay.

Following independence, Kyrgyzstan and Latvia pursued quite different policies towards their Russian minority populations. Latvia adopted a much more harsh set of policies: citizenship was granted only to those demonstrating that their family resided in Latvia prior to the Soviet annexation, and was contingent upon passing tests in Latvian language and history. Kyrgyzstan granted citizenship automatically to those living within its borders upon independence. While only Latvia had official policies that in effect disadvantaged Russians in the job market, informal discrimination against Russians applying for jobs in the private sector, and especially for public service jobs, is present in both countries. Latvia is actively promoting the use of the Latvian language, and discouraging Russian, in schools and government activities. Kyrgyzstan is promoting the usage of the Kyrgyz language, but it is also seeking to preserve the usage of Russian.

Commercio described these practices as forms of "nationalization policies," which are intended to create a state "of and for" the titular nationality, and are also a reaction to previous decades of Russification—Soviet policies to promote Russian language and culture in the republics outside Russia.

In her research, Commercio found that, in spite of the respective policies of Latvia and Kyrgyzstan, Russian minorities were more likely to "exit" Kyrgyzstan and to have a "voice" in Latvian society. Commercio reported that since independence 34 percent of the Russian population in Kyrgyzstan immigrated to Russia, versus 22 percent of the Russian population in Latvia. She noted that in Latvia, there are four political parties representing the minority Russian population, but none in Kyrgyzstan. Latvia has a number of NGOs advocating rights for Russians in Latvia, and there have been numerous organized protests of Latvian policy, whereas there are two weak NGOs in Kyrgyzstan for Russians, and no organized protests, according to Commercio.

Commercio noted that one simple reason for Russians to stay in Latvia even in the face of its harsher official policy toward Russians is that the Latvian economy is stronger and, with its membership in the EU, provides its citizens with the opportunity to travel to Europe. She also found that Russians in Latvia had a much stronger informal social network than Russians in Kyrgyzstan. Russians in Latvia had to mobilize to oppose official state policy, whereas Russians in Kyrgyzstan were confronted with a much more informal and decentralized form of discrimination. Another factor, according to Commercio, is that Russian out-migration from Kyrgyzstan already began in the late Soviet era, as economic investment in that republic was redirected. That left a relatively larger number of Russians in charge of privatized enterprises in Latvia than in Kyrgyzstan, providing the Russian community in Latvia with more economic resources for their informal social networks.

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Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more

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