option, it is necessary to carry out gigantic mobilization work comparable to preparations for the presidential elections, which they are beginning to prepare for in less than three months. In addition, mobilizing people for ordinary elections is much easier than leading them to the polls of some strange vote on the issue of the many amendments to the constitution—a little-known document among the masses and therefore not very respected’.24
Under these conditions, to propose voting in the batch vote for the “ethnic amendments” is to ensure the appearance of a huge mass of overt and covert, moderate and radical nationalists, for whom the referendum will take on a completely different meaning. They do not just come by themselves only, they campaign their relatives, neighbours, and acquaintances. These can be additional millions of motivated voters, because more than 60% of the population, according to recent polls, are more or less influenced by nationalist views. Even in spite of the half-hearted decision and the absence in the draft the definition of a state-forming people, this article may be attractive to many of them.25
But I am afraid that because of this amendment a new global problem in Russian interethnic relations will be created. The new people in the new leadership of the country in five to ten years will try to solve it later. Will be this problem solved? And at what cost?
Dr Valery Engel is a Senior Fellow at CARR and president of the European Center for Democracy Development.
1 Владислав Сурков, “Сурков допустил обнуление президентских сроков после изменения Конституции,” Интерфакс, February 26, 2020, https://www.interfax.ru/russia/696694.
2 “Образована рабочая группа по подготовке предложений о внесении поправок в Конституцию,” Президент России, January 15, 2020, http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/62589.
3 Sergey Markedonov, Facebook, February 11, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/sergey.markedonov/posts/3499721313433707.
4 “Конституция и русский вопрос,” Интеллектуальная среда, February 24, 2020, http://irksreda.ru/2020/02/24/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%83%D1%86%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B8-%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9-%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D1%81/.
5 Виктор Имантович Алкснис, Facebook, February 12, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/VAlksnis/posts/2623318054579179?comment_id=2623327227911595.
6 Андрей Нечаев, Facebook, February 16, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/aanechaev/posts/10213494676636262?comment_id=10213497264620960&reply_comment_id=10213501807134520.
7 Valery Engel, Facebook, February 11, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/valery.engel/posts/10218377070551057?comment_id=10218390158238241.
8 Русский Дискуссионный Клуб, Мстислав Русаков, Facebook, February 28, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1434087526804344/permalink/2544738099072609/?comment_id=2544873805725705.
9 Wikipedia, “Valery Tishkov”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valery_Tishkov.
10 Valery Engel, “Russia Needs a New National Idea”, Fair Observer, November 5, 2019, https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/putin-russia-national-idea-democracy-news-16251/
11 Валерий Тишков, Facebook, February 18, 2020, https://www.facebook.com/ValeryTishkovRAN/posts/2696774080441929?comment_id=2696779307108073.
12 Валерий Тишков, Facebook, February 18, 2020.
13 Sergey Markedonov, Facebook, February 11, 2020.
14 Wikipedia, “Decembrist revolt”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decembrist_revolt.
15 “Конституция и русский вопрос,” Интеллектуальная среда, February 24, 2020.
16 Sergey Markedonov, Facebook, February 11, 2020.
17 H. B. Еремина and C. Середенко, “Конституционный национализм в современной Европе: новый уровень угроз,” Социодинамика 3 (2014): 1–42, https://nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=11170.
18 Tylor Cowen, “Europe's Muslims Are More Integrated Than You Think,” Bloomberg, September 7, 2017, https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2017-09-07/europe-s-muslims-are-more-integrated-than-you-think
19 Valery Engel, “Can Multiculturalism Triumph in Europe?”, Fair Observer, March 11, 2019, https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/democracy-radicalism-integration-europe-news-14412/
20 Указ Президента РФ от 19.12.2012 N 1666 (ред. от 06.12.2018) “О Стратегии государственной национальной политики Российской Федерации на период до 2025 года,” https://www.consultant.ru/cons/cgi/online.cgi?req=doc&base=LAW&n=312941&fld=134&dst=100017,0&rnd=0.8950725120114815#05636092251999416
21 Engel, “Can Multiculturalism Triumph in Europe?”.
22 Markedonov, Facebook.
23 “С кем станцует Путин, чтобы заманить россиян на очередные перевыборы себя,” Свободная пресса, February 18, 2020, https://19rus.info/index.php/vlast-i-politika/item/120604-s-kem-stantsuet-putin-chtoby-zamanit-rossiyan-na-ocherednye-perevybory-sebya.
