MOSCOW, October 21 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev delivered a speech for the students of the journalism faculty of the Moscow State University on Thursday. The president stated about his decision to write in the social networks overnight to Thursday. The meeting at the university was held on the next day after a meeting between Medvedev and his supporters in Gorki. Medvedev pledged seats in the government to them.
The question arises why the top candidate on the United Russia election list gives a close attention ahead of the elections to those voters, who can hardly be called supporters of the ruling party? – the Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. A member of the scientific board of the Moscow Carnegie Center Nikolai Petrov cited by the newspaper sees in Medvedev’s vigorous activities his intentions to keep the image of a president-modernizer, “He wants to keep people, who do not comply with his new role of the top candidate on the United Russia election list.” Feeling himself not quite comfortably in this election list, Medvedev is seeking to give signals that this is a time-serving decision rather than radical changes in the situation, “It seems to me that this is Medvedev’s attempt, on the one hand, to show that the president is not a lame duck. On the other hand, he does not intend to play the role of a technical prime minister in the future.”
At the meeting in the Moscow State University Medvedev was speaking about xenophobia and it was obvious that he does it ahead of the Russian march, which the nationalists pledged to hold on November 4, the newspaper reported. He stated that all extremists and separatists should be punished under the law regardless their nationality.
Dmitry Medvedev discussed at a meeting with young students at the Moscow State University the remedies to attain interethnic accord in the country, the Kommersant writes. He supported an idea to form a federal agency for interethnic relations and a forum of representatives of various nationalities. After his speech on the problems of interethnic relations in the country Dmitry Medvedev gave one receipt – “the state should be strong and integral.”
In reply to a question the president stated that the slogan “Stop feeding the Caucasus!” is voiced by “not quite intelligent people” or saboteurs, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta noted. “The consequences of such slogans are predictable. Since it is enough to recall the events in our country in the late eighties. I remember these talks – it is enough to feed Central Asia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States… The country broke up, all separated,” Medvedev underlined.
Medvedev emphasized that the center is ‘feeding’ not only the Caucasus, but also most federal constituents. “They say that the money lacks for all, but the Caucasus republics receive major subsidies,” the newspaper quoted the president as saying. “It is a lie that the subsidies are made only for the Caucasus republics. We have 83 regions and only 11 regions donate the funds. Other 72 regions receive subsidies. Our problem is not in this money, but in the lack of culture and skills of common living,” Medvedev said.