Dmitry Medvedev: Democracy must effectively and fully perform a wide variety of functions, including police functions
Speech at the plenary session of the Global Policy Forum The Modern State: Standards of Democracy and Criteria of Efficiency
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On 20 June Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Interaction with NATO in Missile Defence Dmitry Rogozin was received by President of Slovenia Danilo Tuerk. In the course of the conversation there was a frank exchange of opinions on the state and prospects of cooperation between NATO and Russia in missile defence. Dmitry Rogozin explained in detail the essence of Russian approaches to interacting with NATO in missile defence, which were laid out in the address of President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev to heads of state and government of the NRC members in May. He placed a special emphasis on key prerequisites of setting up successful cooperation
The Press Service of the MFA of Russia has begun the accreditation of media for coverage of the NATO-Russia Council Ambassadorial meeting to be held on July 4, 2011 in Sochi, Russia. Accreditation is done via fax +7-499-244-17-66 or email nrc.sochi@gmail.com The contact telephone of the Media Support Working Group is +7-499-244-20-87. Applications will be accepted until June 29, 2011
Europe can see that the assimilation of migrants, their adaptation and integration into Western society has stalled. I’m tired of bending the fingers counting how many Western European politicians and heads of state have recently spoken about the collapse of multicultural policies. That was hard to imagine even a couple of years ago. After speeches by Merkel, Cameron and Sarkozy, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan made an appeal to the Turks in Germany: “Avoid assimilation!”. This perfectly illustrates the failure of the very idea of the equality of cultures and mutual benefits of their fusion. The insight seems to have ultimately settled in, even if late. Europe realised it was wrong to reject its religious tradition and historic memory. This sacrifice was not only pointless, but also harmful: Europeans were literally disarmed faced with those who are firm in their faith, strong in their national feelings and determined to settle down in the occupied territory. Europe’s concealed irritation grew increasingly apparent. After shifting left after the Second World War Europe’s pendulum of current public opinion and political preferences has swung right before our very eyes
NATO's proposal to link its planned missile defence system with Russia does not go far enough and appears aimed at weakening Russia's nuclear arsenal, the country's ambassador to NATO said Wednesday after talks with alliance diplomats. Last year, NATO proposed that the alliance and its Cold War foe link their systems in a bid to build trust and security. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accepted an invitation to start talks on the possibilities for cooperation at a summit in Lisbon. NATO's vision is of "two independent, but coordinated systems working back to back," Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a video posted a week ago. But Russian Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin said that concept "could not be called cooperation, it's not even a marriage of convenience: it's just living separately in different apartments, with different entrances and addresses"
During the meeting The Joint Statement of the NATO-Russia Council was endorsed. In the text the parties reiterated their commitment to the goals, principles and engagements set forth in the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Co-operation and Security between the Russian Federation and NATO, in the Rome Declaration and in the Charter for European Security of the OSCE of 1999, and acknowledged the fact that security of all states in the Euro-Atlantic area is indivisible, and security of Russia and NATO is intertwined. The NRC member-states agreed to work together to achieve a strategic and modernized partnership in order to create a common space of peace, security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. The NATO-Russia Council member-states affirmed their commitment to work in their capacity of 29 equal partners in order to fulfill a huge potential of the NRC both in the political dialogue, and in practical co-operation. The Joint Review of 21st Century Common Security Challenges adopted by the heads of state and government of the NRC is a real landmark in our relations. It is for the first time that the NRC member-states managed to come to an agreement on the threat assessment, and they are now due to agree on practical implementation of the projects on this basis. The work on the Joint Review was conducted upon the tasking of the NRC Foreign Ministers throughout the year, and it has become a real test of the new structure of the Council that was adopted in December 2009
Russia is firmly opposed to any fresh eastward expansion of NATO. We do not want any foreign military infrastructure next to our borders. But the paradox is it’s not just Russia who is opposed to this. Ukraine doesn’t want to join NATO, while in the case of Georgia two and a half years ago NATO encouraged Georgia to take two completely mad military actions against two independent peoples, those of South Osettia and, even worse, the assassination of Russian UN troops. I think this episode closed the question of Georgia’s NATO membership for a very long time to come. Of course, NATO keeps bringing it up, saying the door is open for both Georgia and Ukraine, but in fact anyone in the west paying serious attention to the subject knows their membership is further away than three years ago
We do indeed have very good relations and understand each other well. This is important for reaching agreement on many different issues, and we are never short of topics to address. We started with our bilateral relations. We have made serious progress of late on the subject of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organisation. I think that credit here goes to the President of the United States’ team, which has implemented all of the agreements reached during my visit to Washington. I hope that this process will continue and that Russia will join the WTO soon. Regarding other topics, we reviewed regional issues of course, and international issues. One of the main subjects we spoke about was the meeting that will take place in Lisbon soon, where the upcoming NATO-Russia summit is to be held. We see an improvement in relations between Russia and NATO, and this is useful for all sides. We are engaged in discussion on a number of matters now, including the idea of a European ABM system. We exchanged views on what steps we think could be taken in this area, and agreed to instruct our aides and ministers to continue advancing in this direction. This is an issue that we will discuss at the summit itself too
We talked about cooperation between Russia and NATO. That was an important discussion, informative and useful. I would like to announce that I will take part in the Russia-NATO summit, which will be held on November 20 in Lisbon. I believe it will help us find the right compromises and in general to deepen the dialogue between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic Alliance. We reviewed the Partnership for Modernisation, we talked about visa-free travel and the whole range of Russia-EU issues because France and Germany are our major EU partners, and it is very important for us to coordinate efforts with these states. In general, I would like to note that this format is very useful. I repeat, it allows us to discuss various issues in an open and friendly atmosphere and, most importantly, to find the answers we need. So I hope that we will continue to communicate in this format in the future
In his speech, Dmitry Medvedev stated that relations with Europe are one of the most important vectors in Russia’s foreign policy and emphasised that today, Europe needs to follow a unified European agenda. Other topics of discussion included current issues concerning European security architecture, taking into account the outcomes of the Russian-French-German summit in Deauville, as well as agendas at the upcoming NATO summit in Lisbon and OSCE summit in Astana. Furthermore, the discussion addressed various issues concerning multilateral cooperation, such as strengthening control over weapons, the problems of disarmament and non-proliferation, and the effects of the global financial and economic crisis on international stability and security
In general, relations in Europe, the Euro-Atlantic parameter of those relations is one of the most important aspects of Russian foreign policy. That is not surprising; it was the case in the Soviet period and, naturally, it remains the case now. Russia is often likened to the Soviet Union but in my opinion this is a major misconception, primarily because the people who live in Russia have changed a great deal. I remember myself 25 years ago: I was a different person, although my mindset was fully established by then and I had nearly completed my PhD. My views were completely different, more idealistic in some ways, and naturally I had less experience. And a huge number of people in our country have made the same progress. Therefore, as I see it, the difficulties in the perception of many processes that go on in our country and even in personal attitudes, must be overcome just by virtue of the fact that we are changing, and that is what is most important. Incidentally, that is what allows us today to find common ground and reach agreement with our colleagues. The role of the personality has always been very important in history, and obviously this remains true today
Russia will take part in the Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon on November 19-20, President Dmitry Medvedev told a news conference after the France-Germany-Russia summit in France’s Deauville on Tuesday. “I would like to say that I will go the Russia-NATO summit that will take place in Lisbon on November 20. It seems to me that it will contribute to finding compromise and in general to stepping up the dialogue between Russia and the North-Atlantic Alliance,” he said
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Important Issues
November 23, 2011
Statement by Dmitry Medvedev in connection with the situation concerning the NATO countries’ missile defence system in Europe
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November 17, 2011
Deputy PermRep Mr. Nikolay Korchunov's meeting with Group of Think-Tankers from Russia, November 17th 2011
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![Press-Conference by Dmitry Rogozin on January 26th following the first Ambassadorial NATO-Russia Council in 2011 [audio]](/files/pictures/en_file49at198.jpg)
January 27, 2011
Press-Conference by Dmitry Rogozin on January 26th following the first Ambassadorial NATO-Russia Council in 2011 [audio]
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January 25, 2011
Meeting of President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev with the Permanent Representative to NATO Dmitry Rogozin, 24.01.2011
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Documents
February 23, 2011
About the Special Envoy of the President of the Russian Federation for the Interaction with NATO in Missile Defence, 18 Feb 2011
February 21, 2011
Instruction about the Inter-Agency Working Group under the Administration of the President of Russia for the Interaction with NATO in Missile Defence, 18 Feb 2011
June 5, 2008
Dmitry Medvedev's Speech at Meeting with German Political, Parliamentary and Civic Leaders
April 4, 2008
Chairman’s statement: Meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at the level of Heads of State and Government held in Bucharest
All documents
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