Komsomolskaya Pravda: "Vladimir Putin: Sometimes it’s better to act quickly making minor mistakes than not to act at all"
Vladimir Putin met with the Valdai Club's foreign experts to discuss what the future has in store for Russia and Europe
On Friday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with foreign experts from the Valdai International Discussion Club. The meeting was held in Krasnogorsk near Moscow. The future of Russia and Europe was the topic of the day.
The meeting started at 9:30 pm., when the prime minister entered the hall and wisely asked everyone to take their seats.
Timothy Colton, Professor of Government and Russian Studies and the Chair of the Department of Government at Harvard University, was the first speaker. Colton honestly admitted that Russia has become a 'tough nut to crack' for the experts, who have failed to come up with feasible solutions for the country's issues. He recalled the 1990s, when – as the Valdai Club members believe – the economic situation in Russia was worse but political life was anything but stagnant.
"I would like to draw your attention to the fact that we had a real civil war in the Caucasus in the 1990s, and that national social service systems were in ruins," Putin said in response, adding that the current governance model allowed for stopping the war. This, he said, resulted in higher growth rates and improved the living standards.
According to Putin, over the past decade, the average income has increased 2.4 times, while a pensioners' income has grown by 3.3 times.
"You should take note of President Medvedev's persistent calls for modernisation," Putin emphasized. "This is part of the Strategy for Russia's Development until 2020 – but Medvedev debureaucratised the issue, putting out for public input and pushing it forward together with the government."
"Certainly, our system is not perfect. We are aware of the criticism regarding our so-called 'tandem' leadership – but no management system is perfect," Putin emphasised, offering an example of the United Kingdom, where, after Tony Blair's resignation, the post was automatically transferred to his fellow party member, without any election or alternative proposals.
Another member of the Valdai Club, Pyotr Dutkiewicz, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Governance and Public Policy at Carleton University, Ottawa, amused attendees by asking how 'Vladimir Putin 2' will differ from 'Vladimir Putin 1' during his next presidency.
With a bit of smile, Putin said the voters would have to express their will during the election first.
"Mr Putin is not split in two," the prime minister joked, but then took a more serious tone. "There are basic things that don't change: a love for the motherland and a striving for maximum results when planning the people's well-being. But the approaches used in achieving the result are prone to change as the world around us changes."
The next question concerned the Eurasian Union, which is currently on the national agenda. According to the Valdai Club members, the organisation would not be able to be compared to the European Union as the two comprise countries with different political systems. Putin appeared to be very concerned about the subject and said that the European Union's predecessor was the post-WWII European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), which was established to provide energy resources to European countries but then grew into an interstate political system.
"We are building our union on the principles of the WTO, which we will soon be a part of, and everyone will only benefit from the fact that every country will be able to work in our territory under WTO principles. As for the political systems, they will change anyway – economic challenges will require it," the prime minister emphasised.
Speaking of international affairs, Putin mentioned the NATO military presence in Afghanistan and generally assessed its role positively, but added that the efficiency of countering the Afghan drug trafficking threat left much to be desired.
The prime minister sounded optimistic about Russia's relations with the United States, but criticised the military operation in Libya. He also warned that if the United States continues to develop a missile defence system in Europe, a confrontation will be imminent. Yet, Putin expressed hope that the relations will improve as the "reset" is working pretty well.
Speaking of Silvio Berlusconi, Putin said that he has been good friends with Berlusconi for a long time. "The fact that he was one of the longest-serving prime ministers is a huge benefit for Italy. Despite the scandals over notorious affairs, he has managed to provide political stability in the country," Putin emphasised.
As regards the situation in Europe, the prime minister did not seem overoptimistic. Putin believes that European Union authorities are wasting time by not taking hard measures to combat the crisis. "Sometimes it's better to act quickly and make minor mistakes than not to act at all," the prime minister told the foreign experts, who were there to consider Russia's issues.
Alexander Grishin
