Nezavisimaya Gazeta: “The prime minister’s dialogue with the Caucasus”
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to the new federal district was accompanied by unprecedented security measures. As United Russia leader, he charged his party with an important assignment - establishing dialogue with civil society groups across the Caucasus and launching an ideological campaign to win over local residents' hearts and minds. He also urged sorting out the governmental mess in the North Caucasus and integrating the region into Russia's cultural and information space. He advised local leaders to welcome investors as though they were members of their own families and to protect them from corruption and other illegal activities.
The name of the second city to host a plenary meeting at the United Russia North Caucasus conference which Putin attended was kept a secret almost until the very last moment. Several different potential host cities were named. The media were told about Nalchik, Pyatigorsk, Mineralnyye Vody, and finally about Kislovodsk. They understood that the party forum was to continue in Kislovodsk on the Monday evening. Preparations for the conference got underway just in time. It was accompanied by unprecedented security measures. Trained sniffer-dogs were used to check the personal belongings of the participants in the forum. United Russia members had to pass through at least three Federal Security Service (FSO) barriers in order to attend the event.
On the eve of the forum Nalchik too was in a state of full combat readiness. Numerous buses carrying spetsnaz (special forces) commandos kitted out in camouflage drove through the city. Strange as it may seem, traffic on the city's streets was blocked by trolleybuses rather than by armored personnel carriers. Local residents concluded that the second day of the conference would be held in Kislovodsk rather than Nalchik due to security considerations. A member of the Kabardino-Balkarian government administration complained: "It has not been quiet here recently. Policemen are being killed almost every day."
Participants in the forum were gathered in Kislovodsk's Zarya sanatorium long before the party leader arrived. Interestingly, holiday-makers also staying tehre were not evacuated ahead of the plenary meeting. They continued undergoing their medical procedures, swimming in the pool and drinking mineral water from special taps all the while under the watchful eyes of the FSO officers who were trying not to be too conspicuous.
In the meantime United Russia party members went for walks around the sanatorium, discussing the peculiar features of policy in the North Caucasus.
Entering the hall with World Class Fitness Club President Olga Slutsker, actor Fyodor Bondarchyuk replied in a detached manner when asked why he came to the forum: "I was nearby, in Chechnya, and decided to come." Other participants seemed to have more valid reasons for attending the conference.
During the Novosibirsk forum the prime minister sat onstage in a white chair, while other United Russia executives sat in similar chairs arranged in a semi-circle in front of Putin. This time the stage was more reminiscent of the economic forum in St Petersburg. Chairs for the prime minister and for the local United Russia leaders were all arranged on stage just as they were at the recent St Petersburg Economic Forum which was attended by President Dmitry Medvedev.
United Russia members welcomed their leader with a thunderous standing ovation but tried not to interrupt his speech with applause too often. Putin began by admitting that extremists were still committing acts of terror in the North Caucasus, but added that they were increasingly degenerating into groups of run-of-the-mill criminals. He said that "their time is passing" and promised to do everything within his power to protect the lives and rights of Russian citizens: "We will never allow any interference in our domestic affairs or any encroachment on Russia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Putin went on to speak in detail about the adjusted development plan for the North Caucasus to 2020. Last week the media published an outdated draft of this plan although by the new version already existed. It was supplemented by Presidential Envoy and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin. Putin listed the projects that the government is to implement in the region over the next few years - building a modern airport in Nalchik, developing solar battery production in the Stavropol Territory and establishing a tourist zone in the republics of the North Caucasus.
"We will attract federal funds and private investment," Putin promised, mentioning the companies and banks that have already agreed to take part in these projects including: Sberbank, VEB, Rosselkhozbank and Rosnano. The prime minister urged representatives of the regional and municipal government to welcome investors as if they were members of their own families and protect them from arbitrary rule and racketeering.
However, budget funds and private investment are not enough to fully fund these projects. Putin said that first of all, a dialogue must be established with civil society in the Caucasus - United Russia should achieve tangible changes in the attitudes of people across the North Caucasus and maintain a continuous dialogue with the public. He noted that sometimes people in the North Caucasus have difficulty getting through to official agencies whose employees seem quite indifferent to their needs, and more interested in covering up for one another. This only aggravates corruption, negatively affects the business environment and helps extremist ideas spread. "We must maintain an ongoing and meaningful dialogue with public and human rights organizations," Putin said. He observed that although many of these organizations are funded from abroad, there are members of these organizations who are sincere in their desire to resolve the problems afflicting the North Caucasus. "People should have a real opportunity to send a signal to government. Only then will they believe that the government understands their needs and is able to find solutions to their current problems... Achieving noticeable change in public life and in people's attitudes is a major political goal for United Russia," the party leader concluded.
Putin emphasized the need to influence the attitudes of people in the region: "It is essential to change the public mood both in and around the North Caucasus, to overcome phobias and stereotypes and to dramatically improve the region's image in Russia and in the rest of the world." "We should realize that the Caucasus continues to be a target for crude foreign ideological expansion that is sometimes based on extremist or radical goals. This is a fight for people's hearts and minds, for their attitudes and it is a fight we cannot afford to lose," Putin said confidently. "We have no right to be passive and be dragged along by events," he added.
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The prime minister set forth an adjusted version of the strategy for the development of the North Caucasus to 2020.
Elina Bilevskaya
