Russia will not allow aggressive nationalism and the transfer of interethnic conflicts from abroad on its territory, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at a meeting of the Council for Interethnic Relations.
He noted that while economic and political reasons underlie the emergence of most hotspots in the world, interethnic and religious intolerance is usually provoked to foment these conflicts.
"We in Russia must not allow, nor will we allow any aggressive, disrespectful demonstration of our ethnicity towards representatives of any nationality, nor will we allow any foreign conflicts of this kind to be transferred to our land," the President said.
He noted that today more than 80% of the Russians give a positive assessment of interethnic relations in the country, but these issues require constant, daily work because they concern a very sensitive area for the people. "Attention to the implementation of national policy, especially at the local level, should be constant and close, and actions should be as delicate, tactful and correct as possible," stressed the President.
Suppression of conflicts
Putin noted that Russian authorities carefully and respectfully stopped attempts to transfer interethnic conflicts from other post-Soviet countries to Russian territory and will do the same in the future.
"It is impossible for us to tolerate the fact that someone is trying or intends <...> to transfer the problems that people face in their countries to the territory of the Russian Federation," Putin said. According to him, this issue concerns representatives of many former Soviet republics - both those who are citizens of Russia and those who have the status of migrant workers, who have lived in Russia for many years but "are involved in the processes that take place in their homeland."
"Unfortunately, in the previous time we have seen similar attempts to transfer problems in our neighboring states related to territorial disputes, to interethnic problems, to the territory of Russia," Putin said. - "Our law enforcement agencies and authorities, in general, have acted in the highest degree of accuracy, calmly and respectfully, but they have solved this problem".
"All such attempts both today and in the future will certainly be suppressed," the President assured.
Putin hopes that representatives of national-cultural public associations that exist in Russia will understand this and will not lose "their sense of responsibility to the country in which they live."
Problems of interethnic relations in other countries
Putin also believes that countries in the American and European continents have faced the problem of interethnic relations.
"We know what problems many countries in the world face today in just this key area. Both on the American continent and on the European continent," Putin said.
According to him, the topic of strengthening all-Russian civic identity is key to the Council meeting. "There is nothing more important for our country, or for any country in the world," the Russian leader added.
Putin also specified that together with the council participants he will hear a report on education as a tool for harmonizing interethnic relations, including the social adaptation of migrant children. The question of the creation and realization of ethnocultural tourism projects in Russian regions will be also considered. "These seem to be independent topics, but they are strongly connected", concluded the President.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS