President of the German Society for Eastern European Studies Ruprecht Polenz gave his assessment of the Russian actions in the international arena during political debates on Russia's foreign and domestic policy that took place in Berlin recently.
A consistent supporter of the transatlantic policy, Ruprecht Polenz, who holds the post of general secretary of the CDU and was the permanent chairman of the Foreign Committee of the Bundestag for 8 years, said that the recent foreign policy maneuvers of Russia are too expensive measures for the country during the current difficult economic situation.
According to him, the economic indicators of the Russian Federation will continue to deteriorate under the current circumstances. The German ex-politician believes that the key factors of real modernization of Russia are legal security and the abolition of the Western sanctions. At the same time in Polenz’s opinion, foreign political maneuvers and actions, which can unite the population around the country's leadership in the face of an external threat, are possible plans for further action by the Russian authorities.
The German political scientist criticized Russia's military operation in Syria, calling it "extremely dangerous from the viewpoint of Russian interests,’’ adding that Russia interfered in the conflict to support Bashar al-Assad, who ‘‘was isolated even in the Arab League in connection with actions against his own population." "In addition, Russia supports Iran, another ally of the Assad regime…’’
There is a proxy war between the dominant Shiite state of Iran and the leading Sunni state of Saudi Arabia. Most of the Muslims in the world are Sunnis, and they are the majority of the Russian Muslim community. I cannot imagine that this event can pass without consequences for the Muslim population of Russia. Islamic State is supported by thousands of people from the Caucasus, particularly from Chechnya,’’ the ex-chairman of the Foreign Committee of the German Parliament said.
A correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza asked the Director General of the Caspian Cooperation Institute, president of the Center for Current Politics in Russia, political analyst Sergey Mikheyev and CEO of the Center for Political Information Alexei Mukhin how this viewpoint is substantiated.
In an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, Sergey Mikheyev said that the West was trying to develop this idea in Russia in order to make it discussed in Russian society, because they understand the difficulties of the Syrian issue, especially in terms of the plain crash in Egypt. It may become the main factor of the internal political influence before the upcoming elections to the State Duma. "I don’t think that Polenz is very concerned about the situation in Russia. He is quite indifferent to it.’’
Speaking about Russia's military operation in Syria, the expert said: "Above all, our operation has its own risks, but it is quite effective. The West also admits it, because if it had not been effective, no one would have worried about it. Secondly, the fact that there are people from the North Caucasus should be disregarded. According to this logic, we should not fight terrorism at all, including on our own territory, because these extremist organizations can be supported by people from the North Caucasus,’’ the president of the Center for Current Politics in Russia expressed his opinion.
