Starostlivosť o krajanov po roku 1989

Care about Compatriots after 1989 The paper deals with the creation and development of legislation supporting compatriots living abroad. The attention is paid primarily to the region of Central Europe, but a wider European context is also taken into consideration. Care about ethnically related compatriots is historically derived from the feelings of cross-border solidarity based originally upon common confession and later on common ethnicity. Individual stages of the history of the last two hundred years are tackled; attention is drawn to approaches taken by individual states and national communities to implement an active policy regarding expatriates and their dispersion. The paper focuses on the constitutional-law development after 1989 and the origination of so-called compatriot laws. Their background should be seen as the understanding of the nation expressed in the basic law of a state in question. Constitutions of most Central and East-European states understand the nation as a combination of language and culture, or they attempt to combine the principle of a political and cultural nation. Legislation and practice formed during the last 20 years in Central Europe encompass more types of care about compatriots. Individual compatriot laws (or delegated legislation) differ in respect of their target group (compatriots without citizenship, compatriots citizens and non-citizens, compatriots globally or only in neighbouring countries, the issue of permanent residence), the scope of support, attempts to issue compatriot identity cards qualifying their holders to receive support, or general regulation, etc. An important part of compatriot issues is the formation of various consultative forums in order to secure a dialogue between fatherland and the dispersion, representation of compatriots at a public level as well as administrative institutionalization of compatriot policy within public administration of a particular state. An acceptance of such policy at the level of international law should be considered.