Russians residing in West European countries are faced with growing pressure, although there have been no officially registered cases of discrimination, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Relations with Compatriots Abroad, Oleg Malginov, said at a roundtable meeting at the Federation Council on Wednesday, Eurasia Diary reports citing TASS,
"Our compatriots in West European countries are subject to noticeably greater pressure. There have been no official cases of discrimination, but pressure and discrimination in everyday life are being felt already in the process of employment, career promotion and pay rises," Malginov said.
He pointed out that such cases should be dealt with on the merits and professionally.
"It is not so simple to prove this in court. There should be created a proper atmosphere and information background that would allow for making the corresponding decisions," he stressed.
The Russian Foreign Ministry plans to boost cooperation with legal communities in other countries in order to be able to protect the rights of Russian nationals abroad, the diplomat went on.
He emphasized the need "to boost ties with foreign legal communities, not just Russian-speaking ones, but also those that have long-term links to their countries’ judicial systems."
"In this regard, we will request assistance from our lawyer organizations, including the Association of Lawyers of Russia, so that when a case gets a political dimension, prominent lawyers familiar with all the mechanisms could step in," Malginov added.
Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department Ruslan Golubovsky informed earlier that about 6,000 Russians were currently kept at foreign penitentiaries. He said that the range of charges put forward against Russian citizens was rather wide and some of them had a political aspect. Golubovsky said that remuneration for the services of Russians’ lawyers was the most acute issue of all. He called for developing a mechanism to offer legal insurances to Russians travelling abroad, which would cover their legal expenditures the way travel health insurances provide international medical coverage.
