ABSTRACT
Putin’s article, ‘The national question’, written for the presidential election campaign in 2012, he underlined the role of the EEU in controlling migration policy. Putin saw the role of the EEU as ‘curbing chaotic migration from post-Soviet states by means of regional integration’. Following an international trend, he furthermore connected migration and the integration of migrants to national security, the rule of law, corruption and criminality. In this manner, Russia’s institutional problems and various aspects of migration were ‘securitised’ as a problem demanding a law-and-order response. The article was also a response to the Russian nationalistic opposition, as
Putin emphasised the dangers of nationalism, which threaten the stability and peaceful relations between different ethnicities and religions. Nonetheless, as a concession to critics of migration, much attention was also given to improving the work of law enforcement agencies. In particular, Putin underlined the fight against corruption and demanded better control of the implementation of laws and regulations, such as registration rules and penalties for their violation (Putin 2012). Within the framework of domestic politics, his article is interpreted as a response to the liberal-nationalistic opposition (see Chapter 4 on Alexey Navalnyi’s role) and its critics of corruption, the wrongdoings of the current regime and social problems, which the opposition has connected to the ‘Asian influence’ and migration in general.
