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3.3.3 The Central Actors Behind Russia’s Compatriots Policy in
Estonia
The success of Russia’s Compatriots Policy directly depends on the active work
of the central actors responsible for the efficient delivery of its policy goals. The
year after the concept was announced, Russia established the Estonian branch of
the Russkii mir Foundation and Russotrudnichestvo, a Russian federal agency.
The Russian Federation uses diplomatic missions in its near abroad, actively
giving embassies responsibility for running annual Coordination Councils of
Russian Compatriots, which coordinate the agenda of an extensive network of
institutions implementing policy abroad. One objective of the central actors is to
try to shape the perceptions of these compatriots by means of the Russiacontrolled
information space. According to the head of Rossotrudnichestvo,
Russia’s efforts to foster its positive image abroad coincide with its major goal of
increasing its authority in the international arena. 81 Compatriots can be used as a
tool for implementing the Kremlin’s foreign policy goals. Therefore, the need to
protect the rights of the Russian population can be used as a pretext to interfere
in the internal affairs of other countries.
Since 2009, Rossotrudnichestvo has coordinated its activities with Russkii mir,
the Foundation focused on the promotion of the Russian world, its culture and
history. This consolidation strengthened Russia’s activities in Estonia
considerably as Russkii mir was established in Tallinn on the premises of the
Pushkin Institute in 2008. Today, there are two such centres in the United States
but five in the Baltic states. 82 Given that there are 4–6 million possible Russian
compatriots living in the USA, the decision to open additional Russkii mir
centres in the Baltic states indicates the importance of the Compatriots Policy in
the Baltic region.
The Fund for the Legal Protection and Support of Russian Federation
Compatriots Living Abroad has broader functions, such as monitoring violations
of the rights of Russian compatriots living abroad and reporting the
information. 83 The target area of the fund’s activities is defined as Russia’s near
abroad, and it plans to create a network of legal protection centres throughout the
CIS and the Baltic states. The Fund receives most of its financing from the
Russian state budget.
Russian federal actors coordinated the establishment of the fund, including the
financial side of its activities which represent the main interest in the fund’s
81 See Kosachev, Konstantin, Soft Power in the Right Place, Russkii mir,
http://www.russkiymir.ru/russkiymir/en/publications/articles/article0354.html>.
82 See http://russkiymir.ru/en/rucenter/catalogue.php.
83 Office of the President of Russian Federation, Press Release, Executive order on establishing a
foundation for supporting and protecting the rights of compatriots living abroad, available at
http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/2267.
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