Experts on Putin's national policy

"Immoral International" is the source that feeds problems of interethnic relations in Russia today, Russian President Vladimir Putin said today in his address to the Federal Assembly. 

Putin said that inter-ethnic relations is the most important theme nowadays. "It is the confluence of many our problems, many difficulties in the socio-economic and territorial development, corruption, irregularities in the work of public institutions, and, of course, the failures of the educational and cultural policies. The conflict is provoked not by representatives of particular peoples, but by people deprived of culture and respect for tradition. It is some sort of immoral International, which includes insolent natives of some southern regions of Russia with bad morals as well as corrupt law enforcement officials who protect the ethnic mafia, and the so-called Russian nationalists, separatists of different kind that turn any tragedy into a cause for vandalism and bloody unrest," Putin said.

Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin and director of the International Institute of Political Expertise Yevgeny Minchenko gave their comments on the address to Vestnik Kavkaza.

Vladimir Lukin called Putin's words about interethnic relations "very competent." Lukin said that he was particularly pleased with president's sharp approach. He also said that "people who shout "Russia for Russians" and anti-Russian slogans contribute to the collapse of our country in the same way, violate our Constitution and do not deserve to be a legitimate and respected part of our political system," Lukin said.

Yevgeny Minchenko, in his turn, drew attention to the change in the state approach to the national question. If earlier the state recognized only Russia nationalists as the cause of the problem, now it looks at it in a more comprehensive way.