Post-Soviet States' de jure Accommodation of the Russophone Minority

The present study explores a selected group of post-Soviet states and their de jure accommodation of theRussian-speaking minority residing on theirterritory. More specifically the study aims tocategorize the titular states of Latvia, Lithuaniaand Moldova in terms of their national legalframework pertaining to minorities along thecontinuum inclusive - moderate - exclusive.Furthermore, the present study analyses to whatdegree external factors such as Russian immigrationin the Soviet period; Russia's near abroad policytowards the successor states; and the Europeanorganisations strategies and mechanisms forpromoting and protecting minority rights haveinfluenced the former Soviet countries' minoritypolicy between 1991 and 2004. The general findingsare that it is the interaction between severalfactors and not the single of effect each factorwhich have had an effect on the titular state's dejure accommodation policy towards the Russian-speaking minority - and particularly theinterrelation between the size of the Russian-speaking minority and the titular state's relationwith Russia on the hand and the EU/NATO on the other.

Autorentext

Master's degree in political science, in the field of Comparative politics, taken at University of Bergen spring 2007.

Klappentext
The present study explores a selected group of post- Soviet states and their de jure accommodation of the Russian-speaking minority residing on their territory. More specifically the study aims to categorize the titular states of Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova in terms of their national legal framework pertaining to minorities along the continuum inclusive - moderate - exclusive. Furthermore, the present study analyses to what degree external factors such as Russian immigration in the Soviet period; Russia's near abroad policy towards the successor states; and the European organisations strategies and mechanisms for promoting and protecting minority rights have influenced the former Soviet countries' minority policy between 1991 and 2004. The general findings are that it is the interaction between several factors and not the single of effect each factor which have had an effect on the titular state's de jure accommodation policy towards the Russian- speaking minority - and particularly the interrelation between the size of the Russian- speaking minority and the titular state's relation with Russia on the hand and the EU/NATO on the other.