The Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, rejected accusations against Russia of triggering the growth of the refugee inflow to Europe from Syria. According to him, migration inflows to Europe from the Middle East had begun before Moscow began actively fighting international terrorist structures in the region. “If overthrowing governments which dissatisfy some forces continues, it will probably lead to a further growth of migration,” the head of the Security Council replied to the information attack.
The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship, Mikhail Emelyanov, thinks that the roots of tense relations between Russia and Europe are deeper: “Several generations of Soviet and Russian people grew up with the dream of a united Europe. Russia paid dearly for this illusion. In some foreseeable future there can't be any union between Russia and Europe. The basis is not cultural, ethnic or anthropological factors, but the economy. In the early '90s Russians were obsessed with the illusion that we should just break free, cancel Provision 6 and eliminate the leading role of the Communist Party, introduce a market economy and open up to the world, and we will enter a unified family of peoples. The Europeans had a choice: either raise Russia to European standards of living, and the difference on the incomes of the population would be tenfold, or to use Russia as a source of resources to improve the lives of their people. There is no need to guess what choice the European leaders made.”
Emelyanov says that exploitation of Russia took place under the mask of this united Europe and common values: “Until we raise the level of life of our country to the European level, no united Europe, no common values will mean anything, and we will remain such a raw-materials appendage. Therefore, we need to get rid of the European illusion and focus on the development of our country, use our resources for the good of our country. Where protectionism is necessary – we should use protectionism, where we need to make certain political decisions – they must be made without looking towards Europe.”
In this connection, the MP thinks Russia’s membership of the Council of Europe is a very important issue: “It is an absolutely pointless membership, although we pay a lot of money for it, I think about 23 million euros. Membership in the Council of Europe made sense in the 90s, when we were hoping that we would be accepted into the EU. It was a kind of waiting room, a limbo before entering the EU. Now we're stuck in this waiting room, where we are being scolded, insulted, and we still pay money for this. It was necessary to withdraw from the PACE and from the Council of Europe in general a long time ago. We must build not confrontational, but equal relations with the EU.”
As for the European Union itself, Yemelyanov believes that the migration crisis, the terrorist attacks show a deep crisis of values: “The European Union is facing a serious choice: either it can adjust its value orientations or not so good times await it. The understanding of human rights in terms of respecting minorities only is a result of the very favorable environment in which the European Union has developed since World War II. There were very good economic conditions, they did not have to spend much on defense, the Americans protected them; neighbors were stable: a stable Soviet Union and stable Arab regimes, which they destroyed later. The system of absolute material well-being and absolute safety had led to the formation of the unique system of human rights which the EU developed. But it was the fruit of the unique conditions in which they have existed for the last 60 years. Such conditions are very rare, and they are already different now. If they won't realize it and somehow adjust their value orientations, very difficult times await them.”
