В.Путин.2 Ежегодная большая пресс-конференция (Putin) Part 6
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В.Путин.2 Ежегодная большая пресс-конференция (Putin) Part 6
2 Annual Big Press Conference Part 6 June 24, 2002 President of Russia V.Putin The Kremlin,Moscow By the way, such decisions pass easily through the State Duma and the Federation Council. Has it ever occurred to you why? Because among the deputies, the people who represent the subsidised regions, greatly outnumber the representatives of the contributing regions. They duly vote for their interests, they are Russian citizens like all of us, and one can understand them; and these problems must be addressed. Let us take not your city but oil- and gas-producing regions. Do these resources belong only to those who live there? Didnt the whole nation contribute labour and material resources to developing them? Or take industrial centres. Let us not name them. Were these production capacities created only by the people who lived in these cities? The whole country worked for them, including the people in the so-called subsidised regions. They are entitled to a part of these resources from the contributing regions. On the other hand, you are right that redistribution must be reasonable. The contributing regions cannot be bled dry. One cannot tolerate a situation where these regions have no incentives for running effective economies. But that is part of the current economic policy which should be determined through the budgetary process, the budgetary tug-of-war between the federal centre, the contributing regions and the recipient regions. I hope that optimal solutions will be found in the current debate on the 2003 budget. And that the whole of the countrys economy will develop with a view of reducing the number of subsidised regions. That depends on the overall economic policy in the country. QUESTION: I would like to hear about your plans with regard to Russian-Estonian relations, specifically: when does Russia intend to sign a border treaty with Estonia and lift the double tariffs in trade? And has Russia given up attempts to prevent the Baltic countries from joining NATO? VLADIMIR PUTIN: As regards the expansion of NATO, we have repeatedly made the official Russian position known, and I am ready to repeat it. We do not think that NATO expansion improves anyones security, be it the countries that are going to join NATO or the organisation itself. In Western Europe I have more than once asked a rhetorical question. I can repeat it here in Moscow. If you go out into the streets of New York, Brussels, Berlin or Paris and ask people: Will Estonias accession to NATO improve your security? I very much doubt that you will get an affirmative answer. I dont think it will make Estonia itself more secure. At the same time, I think it would be absolutely wrong from the tactical and strategic points of view to try to prevent Estonia from joining NATO. If Estonia wants to, let it, if it thinks it would be happier that way. I see no tragedy there. At the same time, there are modern threats that have directly confronted mankind. They are the threats of terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The two are interconnected. Would Estonia find it easier to deal with these problems if it is a NATO member? I think not. But if you feel that it will be easier, Estonia is entitled to seek NATO membership. And I dont think that circumstance need to lead to a deterioration of the relations between Russia and Estonia. The choice of any people, including the Estonian people, must be respected. Russia will respect whatever choice the Estonian leadership and people make. As for our bilateral ties, you know our position on human rights and the rights of the Russian-speaking population in Estonia. We still believe they are being infringed upon. But recently we have been aware of some positive signals from the Estonian leadership showing that it would like to strengthen bilateral relations between Russia and Estonia. We are grateful for these signals and we will reciprocate.
YouTube | December 21, 2008
