Association of Russian-Speaking Communities established in London

The Association of Russian-Speaking Communities, which was established in London in December 2002, is the first organization of its kind with mass membership. It intends, among other things, to represent actively the interests of emigrants from the former USSR in the countries where they presently live. The organisers of this enterprise are the founder of International Russian House charitable fund Vladimir Voronov, and the head of the Slavonic Bazaar company group Vladimir Bobkov.

What is new about your project?

V.V.: To my knowledge, there has not been such a congress in Europe until now. There was a Congress of Compatriots in Russia; regular round tables on these matters are held in the Moscow city administration; the Congress of Russian press has also become a regular event. But all these unifying initiatives have been directed from Moscow. Our conference is entirely the initiative of the diaspora. 15 European countries were represented; there were guests from Russia and the USA.

Do the most active members represent the last wave of emigration?

V.B.: Yes, those who left the country in the last 10 years. These people came here of their own will; they have not been persecuted or exiled. They have the opportunity to return to Russia or to move to another country. These people are mainly between 30 and 45; they are well-educated and hard-working. They are the most active part of the Russian diaspora.

How different are the aspirations of the initiators of the unifying process from those who left in the time of the dissidents?

V.B.: The representatives of the 1970’s emigration are, undoubtedly, a respectable element of society. Bright intellectuals, writers and thinkers. But these people are far less active in the integration process. Usually they try to avoid communication with their compatriots who moved here in the 1990’s. Perhaps they have an allergy from the Soviet times to everything collective, which, as you will agree, is understandable.

What is the overall picture of the Russian-speaking diaspora in Europe?

V.V.: In Western Europe, including the Baltic states, there are 8 million Russian-speakers from the former USSR. In greater London there are approximately 250 thousand Russian-speakers; in the whole of England, according to different estimates, between 350 and 400 thousand. On the whole, our people may be found everywhere. Naturally, in Germany they are more numerous than elsewhere, but there are also quite many of them in France. Tens of thousands also live in other countries, for example, in Denmark, Ireland, and Sweden. Their desire to communicate with each other is apparent everywhere. People reject old stereotypes: there are no invaders, no ‘older’ and ‘younger’ brothers. On the other hand, there are things that bring people together: common language, culture and traditions. For example, in England there is a large and sociable Lithuanian community, which is also friendly with those who have come from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. None of these people consider themselves to be émigrés and are offended to be branded as such. They feel themselves to be people who at this particular moment prefer to live in another country. Almost none of them lose touch with their home country and regularly go there. Modern means of telecommunication enable unlimited communication with their compatriots. These people want to live actively in two cultural stratums simultaneously.

What is the dominant social status?

V.V.: The current wave of emigration (which would be more correct to call migration) is essentially different from the previous ones. In the last 15 years our compatriots have been leaving primarily for economic reasons. A big stratum is people with working qualifications, which are in particular demand here. There are also many specialists with higher education, fewer of the creative intelligentsia. There are also many students and schoolchildren, whom it would be particularly wrong to call emigrants, as the majority of them will return to Russia. However, at present they are a part of the Russian-speaking diaspora and are also eager to communicate with their fellow countrymen.

You have got together, spoken to each other, discussed various problems - what happens next?

V.V.: First of all we would like to create a single Russian-speaking informational space in Europe. For this purpose we intend to make our magazine Infocenter, which we have been publishing for half a year, pan-European. It is a free magazine, which comes out once every two weeks. At present it contains only news relating to England, but we intend to fill it with information on all the countries where the Russians of the diaspora live. The second task is to open information centres in all the big European capitals. We have opened such a centre in London. Any Russian speaker can come there, receive information, socialise, buy books, and borrow a video. Many delegates of the conference have strongly supported this idea. The third project is to arrange what in the Soviet times was called a mutual aid fund, in other words, to create a financial establishment for giving credits.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta 06.12.2002 (abridged)