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Speech at the 2nd All-Russia Civic Forum
Manege Exhibition Hall, Moscow January 22, 2008
DMITRII MEDVEDEV:
Dear Colleagues!
First of all I would like to apologize to you. I will take some more time than others. I think that this talk is important for me and because there are too few such civic forums, I need to hurry and take the floor.
Representatives of various public organizations and other groups are here today. Some of them have already spoken, others will speak later on. Each of them have their own, definite views on the development of the country. On the present and future life of Russian society. And everyone has the opportunity to freely voice and defend their views. I am convinced that such a diversity of positions and an open civil dialogue is extremely important for our society.
Our civil society was born of the painful, controversial events of the last two decades. But that it is an important element in Russian political life today is an indisputable fact. Moreover, a structured civil society – this process is still taking place - already exists. And in the future, and this is most important, it should be the culmination of our stable and civilized development. This is one of the most important conclusions we came to in recent times.
I fully agree with our President who said that the quota for revolutions and civil strife in Russia was used up in the last century. In the 1990s our country lived through a period of being on razor-edge, walking a tightrope. We went through great trials, committed many mistakes, but did not destroy our country. And that is the real merit of the authorities of that period, and of civil society.
We must never forget the price we paid for getting over the political, economic and social crisis. This price is measured in the lives of thousands of Russian citizens - citizens who died at the hands of terrorists. The outcome was the massive impoverishment of the Russian people, especially the older generation, and the loss of human values and moral guidance. And finally, it is the horrendous price of the decline in the birth rate and the increase in mortality in our country.
And therefore the most important thing for the development of our country is the continuation of peaceful and stable development. We need decades of stable development. Namely, what our country has been deprived of in the twentieth century. Decades of normal life and focused work. I am sure of this.
In fact, all that was done in the country over the past eight years was intended to ensure long-term success for Russia. I would emphasize the word all: from measures aimed at establishing constitutional order and preserving the integrity of the country to the restoration of a basic social safety net for Russian people.
And when, in early 2000, we were 'clearing the debris', and resolving urgent, pressing problems, even then we thought seriously about how to work for the next decade. We did not only think about large-scale economic tasks, but also about reinstating moral values. Without this we cannot live in a country that has self-respect. Especially a country like Russia which has a historical role and a responsibility to the international community. And more importantly, a responsibility to the present and future generations of Russian citizens, the generations who will replace us.
That is why all of us are embarked on important systemic and consistent work to develop our strategic priorities. That is why we require decades of sustained growth. I prepared a programme for the long-term socio-economic development of Russia, a programme up to 2020. And this is a fundamental step that, already today, will allow us to see the longer horizons and to look ahead to the future.
Now, under the leadership of the President, the government is embarked on serious work for the harmonization of this economic strategy. I must say that this is a big issue, something that I would eventually like to elaborate on in a separate statement.
When speaking about the role of civil society in the development of the Russian state, one can state directly that this role of civil society is decisive. We are creating democracy. And, therefore, the role of society in these processes is ubiquitous and indispensable. It is extremely significant not only for achieving economic benchmarks, but also for the implementation of social policies.
It is known that in today's world, so-called representative democracy is the most developed political system. This implies that the country is administered on behalf of the people by their elected representatives. And it is very important that these representatives do not forget about fulfilling their obligations to the citizens.
The role of the state consists precisely in ensuring that the interests of citizens are fully represented and adequately provided for. That means on the basis of broad public support, on the basis of existing laws and democratic procedures, procedures which themselves are based on a dialogue between society and the authorities, a dialogue on the goals and priorities of national development.
I have repeatedly had to answer questions about a national idea. I believe that a debate on this subject is largely ineffective. But I am sure that each nation should have an understandable set of principles and goals that unite the people living in that country. And these principles are developed in light of the very real things that society demands.
What are these principles? How are they seen today? They are, above all, freedom and justice. Secondly, the individual's civic dignity. Third, his or her well-being and social responsibility.
We do not need to invent anything in this respect. The basic values of humanity were first formulated a long time ago, but applying them to the specificities of Russia's situation has sometimes been a problem. And the main issue is how to combine, how to ensure that our national tradition reconciles with a fundamental set of democratic values.
This is a challenge that Russia's political and intellectual elite have struggled with for 150 years. But I must say that today we are much closer to finding a solution.
On the one hand, we have largely returned to our traditions, to our own cultural values. They indeed constitute our national identity. They are also an integral part of global civilization.
On the other hand (there is no need to be shy about this), we already have our own very valuable, albeit controversial, experience of living in a real democracy. Both political and economic democracy. And since this time the democratic institutions that have been formed have managed to prove their viability, despite the problems associated with their inception.
We will continue to maintain a strong commitment to the free development of entrepreneurship, to protect the right of private property, and to enhance the general principles of a market economy.
And the most important thing is that, as a nation, today we have become not simply one of the free peoples, but we have also become responsible and knowledgeable of the price of the freedom of society. Therefore, in the future, all the social and economic activities of the state should be designed to disclose the creative potential of free and responsible people. This, as you can imagine, is largely a problem of upbringing and education. And in fact, we have just recently started to work on this, probably for the first time in the past decade.
We certainly will continue to develop so-called human capital. We will invest money in the talents and abilities of people, in their intellect and creative energies. Today the individual must become not only the principal actor in political development, but also the major target of state investment.However, the effective use of human capital can only be accomplished in a mature and properly structured society. A democratic society and one that has ways to influence the authorities, to control the authorities. That is why we decided to form the Public Chamber whose task is to promote the development of non-governmental structures and institutions of social control. That is why we have made important reforms to the law on parties and on electoral legislation.
Previously, sometimes parties were created as a commercial project, a ready-to-use instrument, so to speak. Of course, in these conditions parties could not develop as a real political force. And elections became populist promises from one-time parties and coalitions unable to provide people with real results.
Numerous party lists did not overcome the barrier required for them to qualify, they lost elections, and the representativeness of elected parliaments on all levels decreased. Sometimes the votes of one third of citizens were wasted, that is, given to lists that didn't exist in parliament. Such a political structure was very far from being a true democracy.Now parties are becoming a real force. This is a difficult process. We have a variety of different examples; however, their influence on the regional administration and local levels of government is growing. And in general, the development of parties strengthens the parliamentary, the representative component of the system of state power, and this is a good thing.
In addition, today the majority of parties have already talked about the need to observe basic constitutional provisions, the basic rights and freedoms of citizens. About the fact that a decent life for Russian people can be built only on the basis of an efficiently developing market economy. Incidentally, hardly anyone believed this 15 years ago that there could be a consensus here, but today we can see a huge consensus on this subject among our citizens. This is a huge achievement for our country's development over the past eight years.
Now, a few words on regional and local authorities. I have heard more than once that in recent years our political system has changed radically (some things changed for the better, some for the worse), and became one with more administrative clarity, but far less public support.
Meanwhile, this administrative clarity (that is, a clear understanding of which levels take which decisions) is the first condition necessary to ensure public support. And if the authorities are not able to adjust, then they would not have any public support. This support is guaranteed to viable and successful government only. And this is the case throughout the world.Remember the beginning of the 1990s. For obvious reasons authorities had great difficulty coping with their responsibilities, and the country was going astray. There were huge, sometimes seemingly fatal centrifugal tendencies. What was there to support in the work done by the authorities?Therefore, the first step was to restore order within the authorities themselves. And only then can we look for public support.
This directly concerns local government, which in and of itself is an essential element of any democratic society. Local government should provide its citizens with the opportunity to solve their local problems – as is done throughout the world – without instructions and orders from above.But local self-government should not degenerate into a parody of self-government – that is, when all its financial resources are not enough to feed themselves, that is, the municipal officials. Obviously, local self-government must be fully self-sufficient for the performance of all the functions assigned to it in accordance with the existing rules.
I will repeat once again, because it's an extremely important message: power does not exist for itself but for the effective governance of the country and for the benefit of its citizens. And it is this model that we need to pursue. A model, which, in fact, is based on a social contract between the government and society, a contract, which creates reciprocal obligations for the Parties and results in the full responsibility of the authorities to its people.In constructing such government, responsible to the people, as well in attempts to see the results of its work – control must play a leading role. And non-governmental organizations are the ones who provide that control.Assisting non-governmental and non-profit organizations in their work, in implementing necessary public and social objectives, is definitely a priority of a democratic state. And, of course, today a modern and prosperous nation can exist only with and within the free flow of information. A powerful and independent media, both federal and regional – where there are a lot of problems – print and electronic, and so-called new media are an integral part of this.
In fact, this theme is linked with another large and serious global problem for Russia. Without exaggeration, Russia is a country of legal nihilism. Unfortunately (and I have to conclude this as a man who has long been engaged in law), no other European country can 'boast' of such a degree of disregard for the law. And this phenomenon goes back to the dawn of time in Russia.
Meanwhile, a legal and, therefore, a just state and can only exist where the authorities and society know and respect the laws of the country. And peoples' level of legal awareness must be high, so that they can effectively monitor the actions of officials.
We cannot say that legal nihilism came to us only in the twentieth century, after the events of October 1917, and that there was full obedience in the nineteenth century. This was not the case. Still, at that time this nihilism was largely moderated by religious traditions.
But in the twentieth century our spiritual and moral framework has virtually been destroyed. And no obstacles remained for legal nihilism. And today, this 'spirit' of disregard for the law is present everywhere. Let us reflect: it is happening at the level of consumer awareness (we do not even wince when buying pirated CDs and DVDs). And at the level of business, when the agreement that defines the multimillion obligations of the Parties is simply written on a piece of paper, with three points, and the payments is simply in bags of cash. And finally, it is manifest in more serious offences - in crimes that are being committed, unfortunately, in large numbers, including corruption in government, corruption, which today occurs at an enormous scale, and fighting which must become a national programme.We need to understand clearly: if we want to become a civilized state, first of all we need to become a lawful one.
And, of course, no abstract values of legal doctrines can replace the real welfare of the people. Therefore, I repeat: one of our key priorities should remain the individual and her real concerns and needs. And we need to work consistently in all areas of daily life: from security to the material wealth.Our social policies have taken on new aspects in connection with this and will continue to do so in the future. First, as I just said, not just the social sector but the individual citizen himself must become the main target of these policies. It is in these sectors that the fundamental regulation of all these issues will take place. And it is really for the benefit of individuals that the social sphere must develop, a sphere which has recently received significant investments: in health care, education, social support, employment, culture, housing, demographic and family policy.
The health and demographic programme should help maintain and enhance the Russian nation. In addition, everyone should have open access to quality education services. So that she can be fully in line with the demands of society and the economy, and, therefore, be successful and confident in the future.
We need to do everything to avoid a deadlocked, unsolvable situation in which individuals have to change the scope of their professional activities, move to another town, change jobs and look for work in this new locality. And finally, to have more opportunities to solve the housing problem, more opportunities for more Russian families.
We also need to harmoniously construct an effective pension system, which ensures that our people will have a dignified old age. Retirement should no longer be associated with the 'end of life', poverty and social disintegration. We need pensions that allow our citizens to live humanely.
All of this together: the establishment of a just state, the development of a strong civil society, and the well-being of people constitute, in my opinion, the foundation on which to base a national idea.
I would like to say a few words about how foreign countries react to our country today. It is clear that everything that happens to us was and is perceived through the prism of the corresponding interests of these states.This is not bad, nor is it good. These are laws of international policy and the laws of development in a global world. Unfortunately, by the end of 1990s, a number of our partners had the sustained impression that Russia could not have its own way of development, according to its own scenario. And in the existing scenario, Russia played the role of good student, or underpart, in international affairs.
But in recent years – we all witnessed this – suddenly our country (maybe surprisingly for itself) started to grow in all directions. Macroeconomic indicators show good growth. Russia became actively involved in shaping the agenda of global development. And if everything continues to develop according to such a scenario, then in the next 10-15 years, Russia is fully capable of becoming one of the top five economies of the world.What is the main problem for those states that have so carefully, so interestedly watched our development? In other words, why are they still afraid of us?
In my opinion, the answer is banal. Often they are simply not clear where Russia is going and what we are going to do in the future. And in this, in my view, is one of the fundamental historical controversies related to the presence of Russia in the international community.
You would agree that in the last three centuries Russia was perceived as follows: they are large, persistent and not completely comprehensible. It seems they wanted to grow according to the laws that governed European development, European civilization, but who knows where they end up?All these concerns persist today. And we must continue to openly and clearly explain our plans and actions in the economic, social and political spheres. Find ourselves more international allies to jointly address pressing international problems.
But we should not forget about another thing. After all, Russia will have to decide how to position itself as an independent country in the future. Since it is one thing to pursue collective decisions, and tens and hundreds of countries have learned this. But it is another thing to play an independent game, an independent foreign policy.
We must say explicitly that this is not for everyone. And for states that united to form alliances, the position of countries that are not within their alliances causes, to say the least, tension. But here I see no fundamental problems and no contradictions. All of Russia's foreign policy today absolutely fits in to the current understanding of international standards of living.
And what does Russia do in the international market which is inconsistent with the expectations for a strong state participating in the global division of labor? Maybe the fact that we have transferred energy to world prices? But this is our responsibility in light of Russia's accession to international economic organizations.
Maybe that we defend our national interests by making agreements with other countries, which are also developing according to their own rules? But this is our duty to our country and to future generations.
And the fact that we take an active position in the CIS is also natural. These states are our neighbours, our close neighbours. Who should we be friends with, if not with them? It is only natural that we are especially mindful of the processes occurring there. But we simultaneously are within these countries' interests.
And the fact that we do not break off relations with so-called problem states that are at times quite disturbing for the international community, well, this is also our responsibility. The most unproductive thing would be to suspend those relationships and turn to 'carpet bombing'. I think that in today's world everybody understands this.
Nobody should doubt the following: Russia will continue to develop as a country open to dialogue and cooperation with the international community. And its active, influential role in international affairs will be based on the principles and norms of international law, and on strengthening the UN's role in solving international problems. And, of course, on the basis of our own interests, on an understanding of our responsibility for the reasonable development of the democratic world, and for solving global economic and other problems.
Dear colleagues!
A few words in conclusion.
Empires may arise and can also break up. States may fall into decay or make leaps forward in their development, but humankind as a whole is developing according to an optimistic scenario. Despite its terrible tragedies, humankind is going ahead.
I think, or rather I simply know, this is because it has always found a moral impetus, a victorious force to develop further and successfully deal with the problems that arise.
Today, it is clear to me that people who live within one country find the strength to band together and work together, in solidarity. And our people have such forces. This means that such a nation must be very successful. And it seems to me that today we are at precisely this stage of our development, we live in precisely such an era.
Yes, a lot of difficulties remain. But in light of the difficult path that Russia has had in the twentieth century, and how successfully the twenty-first century began, our prospects are very good. We have very good prospects.I am certain of the following: modern Russia has every opportunity to become a healthy, successful nation. It is obvious that other nations will continue to develop in this period too. In principle, our main desire is not to miss this, our, opportunity.
For that reason, the strategic programmes that we are now implementing are also designed to give us higher grades in the global 'report card'. To allow us to assume our correct position in the world, worthy of our country and people. And by using such advantages, to further develop our social sector and economy for our people. On the whole, to continue our dynamic forward development.
And so in conclusion, I wish to reiterate a catch phrase that is really relevant to our times, namely the slogan of today's forum: 'Go Russia!'And to reduce the pathos of the last few sentences, just three points in response to what colleagues said in their earlier statements.
The information revolution that is taking place worldwide is very important. It will continue and we need to establish ourselves in a harmonious way in this revolution, in these processes, without undermining the moral fabric and at the same time not just remaining on the margins of informational development. Because what was said here with regards to the development of the Internet and social networks made clear that these are very interesting processes. I think that we should all pay more attention to this.The state will do so. We really did connect all, a 100 percent of schools, to the Internet (if something does not work somewhere, this is already a local issue), and these operations will continue to grow.
Now the more difficult question, increasing the amount of high-tech medical care. We will absolutely continue to increase the number of such facilities. Two years ago, there were ten times less than there are now. We simply did not work at this. We are now opening new centres (there will be fifteen throughout Russia), and the number of such operations has grown accordingly. However, it is still not enough.
It is necessary to develop the economy and invest money here. If there is money, there will be more operations. And we need to properly prepare professionals performing these services. Not simply invite some 'handy' doctors from abroad, but rather do this in Russia with good equipment. In this case the problem of quotas will disappear.
One final point. My colleagues said that there are two positions, two possible ways to develop non-governmental, non-profit organizations. One of them is hard: it's when these organizations are in opposition and, in fact, in a position of fighting against the state. The second way is getting involved in truly difficult work with people to protect their rights and to defend civil liberties.
Of course, this is the way that I see as the most promising and the most difficult one. This is a very difficult and important task, and all those involved here are working on it. Let me thank you for that.
Thank you.
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