5HSRUWRQ5XVVLD citizenship law is needed in modern Russia.83 Russian policymakers should rethink the preamble of the Federal Law about the state policy regarding compatriots where it is stated that the Russian Federation is a successor state of the Russian Empire, the USSR and the RSFSR. Based on this concept of Russian statehood the public authorities have to modify their citizenship and migration policy towards further liberalisation. It is necessary to reestablish the facilitated naturalisation procedure and make it open-ended (i.e. permanently applicable) for those considered to be compatriots, i.e. mainly all former Soviet citizens wishing to acquire Russian citizenship. There is currently a struggle between two political ideologies. One group of politicians considers that Russia has allegedly provided enough time to for people to choose to acquire citizenship. Others argue that it is unfair to put artificial deadlines on those who face such a difficult prospect. Thus, a key question will remain the simplified naturalisation procedure for foreigners from neighboring countries. Citizenship problems closely interrelate with aspects of Soviet and Russian federalism. Ignorance of history can lead to a wrong interpretation of Russian citizenship policy. Thus, according to the citizenship law all former citizens of the USSR and RSFSR are entitled to the facilitated naturalisation procedure as compatriots. Here are some historic facts. The Crimea (as an autonomous republic) until 1954 was a part of RSFSR. Kazakhstan (as an autonomous republic) until 1937 was a part of RSFSR. Abkhazia until 1931 was an autonomous republic of the USSR (out of the jurisdiction of the Georgian SSR). It was an unfinished list of historical problems of that led to the armed conflict in 2008. Therefore, it is very important to understand the complexity of these questions in the sphere of the citizenship policy of the whole Post-Soviet space. It is necessary to see the real requirements of citizens, at least of those from the nine former Soviet republics who expressed their opinion in a referendum in 1991 to live in a common state and keep common citizenship. Based on this historic fact, and also on modern integration developments (i.e. the establishment of the Eurasian Union in 2011), we have to assume that in the Post-Soviet Space new scenarios on the supranational level are highly probable. It can be expected that in the framework of the Eurasian Union (EAU) the member states would elaborate a common EAUcitizenship. It is also possible that their work on legal regulation of the Union citizenship in the framework of the Union State of Russia and Belarus will be re-established. Moreover, it is expected that in the near future the Russian authorities will sign international agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia concerning dual citizenship. Such an intention was fixed in treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual aid between Russia and the Republic of Abkhazia, as well as between Russia and South Ossetia (both concluded on 17 September 2008). At the level of the Russian Federation it is expected that in the next few years an immigration code will be put forward by the Russian State Duma. Adoption of this code will certainly affect the development of Russian citizenship legislation (for example, concerning the resettlement and integration of compatriots). Sooner or later the Russian authorities will have to accept changes caused by the relevant case law of the European court in Strasbourg. There will certainly be other legislative and political initiatives devoted to problems of citizenship and nationality. For example, the establishment of indigenous subjects of federation (Donahoe 2011: 397), the modification of the languages of some nationalities (ethnicities) in Russia - for example, the transition from a Cyrillic to a Latin written alphabet (Osipov 2010: 27) or the case of special preferences for Russian citizens with permanent residence in the Kaliningrad region 83 Lidia Grafova. 'Everything will be as it is should be, even if it will be different...' L.Grafova's presentation on a round table in the State Duma, devoted to dual citizenship. On 12 April 2010. http://l-grafova.livejournal.com/19815.html [01-12 3+&4)*&. ‘H.X :8-#/ /&; ;&; "&-), -&,# #.$1 :8-#/ 1"&<#...’ H'./8($#"1# 0.3+&4)*)@ "& ;+8%$)= ./)$# * 3).-8=#, ().*2C#"")= -*)@")=8 %+&,-&"./*8. 12 &(+#$2 2010 %)-&] 56&$6(8'2&,7&5‹$XWKRU