Putin: Russia will accept migrants, deepen Eurasian integration and put up a barrier to extremism.

The Russian police have been given a key task - "to oppose national and religious extremism." "We must strictly prevent the activities of organized criminal groups formed along ethnic lines. This task is not only for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, but also for all law enforcement agencies and special services," Vladimir Putin said today at a meeting about the plans of the federal bodies of executive power, which are subordinated directly to the President.
As the most important foreign policy priorities the Russian President Vladimir Putin named promoting partnerships with the countries of the CIS, deepening Eurasian integration within the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, and creating the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015.

According to him, Russia's foreign policy objectives are of a strategic nature; first of all this is the creation of favorable conditions for the long-term development of Russia, for economic modernization and for strengthening the position of Russian business on the global markets and the expansion of the cultural, humanitarian presence of the Russian Federation abroad.
"In this regard, of particular importance is the development of bilateral ties, as well as various forms of multilateral diplomacy, first of all, I mean, of course, our work in the framework of the UN, the BRICS, the G-20, the G-8 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.  The priorities are promoting partnerships with our closest neighbors - the countries of the CIS, deepening Eurasian integration within the Customs Union, the Common Economic Space and the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015," Putin is reported by RIA Novost as saying.

The president of Russia confirmed that the country is ready to attract migrant workers, but they have to know the Russian language to respect and observe Russian traditions and laws. "We are ready to attract skilled foreign professionals, we are interested in the labor force which is needed in industry, in construction, in housing and communal services, and in the agricultural sector. But these people should be adapted to life in Russia, should know the Russian language, the history of our country and basic legislation, to respect our traditions," the president said.
“Our solutions to the struggle with illegal migration should also be fully implemented, including toughening the relevant laws," the head of state added.

According to the President, the major objectives of the defense sector remain the large-scale rearmament of the army and navy with modern weapons and equipment, the renovation and modernization of all defense-related sectors, the introduction of new principles of manning, and increasing the proportion of professionals on contract service. He calls for special attention to be paid by the relevant ministers to the social issues of military personnel.

Speaking of tasks in other areas of police work, Putin says that Russians have "high expectations with the improvement of the traffic police." "Special attention should be paid to order on the roads, to a reduction in mortality caused by road traffic accidents," Putin said.

At the same time, the President criticized the activity plans for 2018, prepared by subordinate departments and agencies of the so-called "power pack," urging them to "get rid of formalism." "Recently I also became familiar with the plans prepared by the civil authorities, and there are a lot of problems in them. I will not deny that what I saw in your plans partially disappointed me, but on the other hand, I am very glad to have started this work. Because only when we look at what and how we are planning, can we understand also the style of our work, the way we formulate the tasks, and, therefore, the way we will achieve concrete results in this work," Putin is quoted by Interfax as saying.