Civil society and inter-ethnic harmony

North Caucasus is not the most problematic region of Russia, but "an all-Russian magnifying glass"

One month ago a working group of the Russian Public Chamber on the development of social dialogue and civil society institutions in the Caucasus visited Kabardino-Balkaria. Soon after the meeting internet bloggers noted the fact that the situation in Balkar and Circassian villages presented by the head of Kabardino-Balkaria differs fundamentally from reality. The head of Kabardino-Balkaria, a Kabardian by nationality, in the opinion of the bloggers, managed to arrange a meeting in advance with assigned “public” speakers from Circassian communities, in order to agree on the information they were going to present in front of the members of the Russian Public Chamber. Perhaps the representatives of the Internet community have somewhat exaggerated the situation, but no one would argue with the fact that the situation regarding "civil liberties" in the North Caucasus is far from ideal. This was probably the reason for choosing Kabardino-Balkaria as the meeting point for the July meeting of the Council on Civil Society and Human Rights under the chairmanship of President Dmitry Medvedev.

Speaking about the problems of civil society and its active role in the creation of interethnic and interreligious harmony, as well as in combating terrorism and extremism, Medvedev has emphasized that any actions of the authorities in the field of inter-ethnic relations should be comprehensive. Medvedev mentioned four main steps in the direction of achieving inter-ethnic harmony in the region. The first is the legislative basis for achieving the goal. The second step is the right of every ethnic group to representative media. The third step should provide equal job opportunities for any ethnic group. The last step mentioned by Medvedev was history. According to the president, one has to monitor the appearance of interpretations of history motivated by national hatred.

Participants at the conference mentioned several other strategic objectives. The head of the Presidential Council on Human Rights, Mikhail Fedotov, said that during his presidency of the council he reached the conclusion that the North Caucasus is not the most problematic region of Russia, but an "all-Russian magnifying glass."

Ekaterina Tessemnikova. Exclusively for VK