Deputy head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev believes that the global interaction of special services against the background of the coronavirus pandemic should not be weakened. On the contrary, according to him, common efforts will help prevent such new dangerous manifestations as, for example, bioterrorism. He expressed this opinion in an article published in the journal "Russia in global politics".
"COVID-19, for obvious reasons, forces the security services to intensify their work, primarily to preserve stability within their countries. But, no matter how difficult it is now, it is impossible to weaken the global anti-terrorist interaction between the security services, " Medvedev wrote.
He stressed that any crisis actively provokes destructive forces, and the risks of extremists using the painful points of civilization, the threat of terrorist attacks increase many times. "The coronavirus pandemic clearly proves how sensitive it is for humanity to instantly infect millions of people," the Deputy head of the Security Council said. "This, in turn, can become an incentive to use extremely dangerous technologies of bioterrorism." That is why Medvedev stressed in the article, it is necessary to ensure the strictest possible state control over biotechnologies and biolaboratories, as well as the cooperation of special services to prevent terrorist attacks using biological agents.
Medvedev: the drop in global GDP will be the highest since WWII
"According to the International Monetary Fund, in 2020, due to the crisis, the world economy will drop to 3% in relation to 2019. This is the largest drop in global GDP since WWII. For comparison, during the last global financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009, the maximum annual decline was only 0.1%, " Medvedev writes.
He clarifies that " the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented problems for the world economy as well. There is not a single country that has not felt the effects of the coronavirus. Some states are already defaulting on their obligations, and large multinational companies are going bankrupt."
"The principal feature of our time was that economic logic was subordinated to medical logic. And the choice of economic policy has become, in fact, a choice between economic growth and preserving people's lives, which is determined by traditions and the level of trust in each society. However, long-term economic degradation is also fraught with human casualties," the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council believes.
According to Medvedev, in terms of the challenges facing the economy, "at least in the short term, GDP will no longer be a critical criterion for assessing the dynamics of development."
"The problem is not so much the scale of the downturn as its duration. In a deep but short-lived downturn, a rebound is natural, followed by a growth that may not even require investment. The most dangerous is the long-term stagnation, which provokes the destruction of infrastructure and degradation of all levels of human life," he concludes.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS