Russia will monitor the protection of the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Georgia

Russia will monitor the protection of the Russian-speaking population’s rights in Georgia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has approved a new shape to Russia’s humanitarian policy abroad, which aims to protect the rights of the Russian-speaking populations of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia and Moldova.

“The Russian Federation supports compatriots living abroad in exercising their rights, protecting their interests and preserving the all-Russian cultural identity,” reads the doctrine.

The document also states that the priority of Moscow’s “humanitarian policy” abroad will be the expansion of cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as well as Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

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According to the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), in the first seven months of 2022 a total of 1,598 people received Georgian citizenship, of which 723 are Russian citizens. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, 551 Russian citizens and 8 Ukrainian citizens were granted Georgian citizenship on an exceptional basis.

In addition to this, according to the response of the Agency for the Development of Public Services to David Usupashvili’s request for information, more than 600 companies have been founded either partly or in full by Russian citizens this year, whilst 2,000 Russian citizens have received a residence permit.

Statistics from the Ministry of Justice also show that from February 24 to May 1, 2022, 3,386 citizens of the Russian Federation and 2,363 citizens of the Republic of Belarus were registered as individual entrepreneurs in Georgia.

The field of work of these entrepreneurs is not known exactly, but the House of Justice notes that one of the most in-demand services is registration as an “individual entrepreneur.” Hundreds of Belarussian and Russian citizens, alongside Georgian citizens, are queuing up to claim this title.