Russia has two allies – the army and the church

The Public Chamber (PC) of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft report on the state of civil society in Russia for 2023. Kommersant studied the “fundamental document reflecting key trends” in this area and compared it with analogues from previous years. The project, in particular, develops the challenges facing the country and citizens in the context of the SEE mentioned in last year’s report, and the need to strengthen traditional values. At the same time, the authors have significantly moved away from earlier promises – from the consolidation of society in the fight against coronavirus infection to consolidation against the pressure of the collective West, from cooperation with partners from the United States and the European Union in the development of civil society to friendship with partners from Asia and Africa.

The RF OP has prepared a draft report on the state of civil society in Russia for 2023 (the text of the draft is at the disposal of Kommersant). This year, the document is being discussed and finalized for the first time by members of the public at the “Community” forum, which takes place in Moscow on November 2–3 on the eve of National Unity Day. The report, as noted in the RF OP, is a fundamental document reflecting key trends in the development of civil society against the backdrop of ongoing “global changes.” The report was first prepared in 2006, since then the RF OP has been preparing it annually, and the final version is presented to the head of state.

“Solidarity and cohesion”, “Implementation of the foundations of state policy to preserve and strengthen traditional spiritual and moral values”, “Intellectual leadership”, “NGOs: new realities – new solutions”, “Sustainable development”, “Public observation”, “The role of civil societies in regional development” and “International cooperation” – such chapters make up the presented document. Compared to last year, the thematic content has remained virtually unchanged. So, last year the main topics were “Patriotic Consensus”, “Economic, Technological, Educational Sovereignty”, “Traditional Values”, “NGOs: New Realities – New Solutions”, “Sustainable Development” and “Public Diplomacy”.

The draft of the current report, like the reports of previous years, begins with identifying the main challenges facing the country and requiring the consolidation of citizens. This year, however, as in 2022, the “solidarity and cohesion” of Russians was considered by the RF OP in the context of the SVO. And the “long-term sanctions policy of Western countries” mentioned in last year’s report is reflected in the draft of the new document. Two years ago, we note, the RF OP also spoke about challenges and cohesion, but it was about the fight not against the pressure of the “collective West,” but against the coronavirus infection.

Next they talk about the level of trust of Russians in the president (it is noted that the head of state is trusted by up to 80.9% of citizens) and public institutions. Thus, the armed forces are “the most powerful and approved public institution in the country.” The second place is occupied by the Russian Orthodox Church. It is interesting that until 2022, the reports of the RF OP did not include data on trust in the head of state and the army, but they provided indicators of trust in the non-profit sector and other indicators of civic activity of Russians.

OP RF continued last year’s theme “Preservation and strengthening of traditional spiritual and moral values.” However, if in 2022 they talked about the need to expand work to implement the requirements of the presidential decree “On approval of the foundations of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values,” then in 2023 the RF OP reported on the work already done in the field of “patriotic education” of Russians . The authors of the report recalled the school lessons “Conversations about Important Things,” the new unified school history textbook, and the university course “Fundamentals of Russian Statehood.”

For the first time in the report, the RF OP also considered issues of migration policy, the implementation of which, according to the authors of the project, is effective. At the same time, the RF OP recalled “the formation of infrastructure for foreigners, from education to medicine,” as well as the integration of foreign citizens.

Traditionally, the document also covers public observation of elections. “Today in the Russian Federation a system of public control over elections has been created, which has no analogues in world practice both in terms of the scale of activity and in terms of institutional and legal design,” the OP notes. “The built-up system of public control allows us to cover all forms of voting, including remote electronic voting “

In the final chapter “International Cooperation”, the authors of the project paid attention to new realities – in particular, the formation of a new polycentric world order and Russia’s turn towards the countries of Asia and Africa. Among the countries with which the Russian Federation is actively developing bilateral relations are China, Cuba, the Central African Republic and Algeria. This trend was also noted in last year’s report, and among the factors that influenced its formation were then called “biased decisions of the executive structures of leading international organizations.” Let us note that in the very first report of the OP for 2006, the United States and the countries of the European Union were named as Russia’s strategic partners in the development of civil society.

Emilia Gabdullina