نيل باكلي
فالداي، روسيا (Valdai, Russia)
يطرح "فلاديمير بوتين" على الروس تعزيز هوية وطنية جديدة استناداً إلى القيم المحافظة والتقليدية متثملة فى الكنيسة الأرثوذكسية اليوم الخميس، محذرا من أن الغرب يواجه أزمة أخلاقية
حذر الرئيس الروسي من أنّ "السيادة، والاستقلال، والسلامة لروسيا – تلك هي الخطوط الحمراء غير المسموح لأحد بتخطيها".
قال بوتين أن روسيا ينبغي أن تتجنب مثال البلدان الأوروبية التي شردت بعيداً عن جذورها بالتفريط السياسى بالتشريع المفرط بإجازة زواج المثليين.
ويرى "بوتين" إن تلك السياسة تدار مع طرح - وعلى نفس المستوى- مبادىء الأسر متعددة الأطفال، وشراكات الجنس الواحد، والإيمان بالله، والإيمان بالشيطان. ويقول "بوتين" أنّ الابتذال فى الإصلاحات السياسية يؤدي إلى نقطة حيث يتحدث الناس بجدية عن تسجيل أحزاب هدفها هو شرعنة الدعاية للولع الجنسي بالأطفال.
ويضيف الرئيس الروسى "بوتين" أنّ الناس في العديد من البلدان الأوروبية لا يستحون، فهم يخافون من الحديث عن معتقداتهم الدينية. ويجري نبذ الأعيادالدينية بعيداً أو قد يسمونها بأسماء أخرى خجلا لإخفاء جوهر العطلة.
ويقول "بوتين": ونحن بحاجة إلى احترام حقوق الأقليات أن تكون مختلفة، ولكن ينبغي أن لا تكون حقوق الأغلبية محل تساؤل.
ولقد استغرقت تعليقات السيد بوتين ثلاث ساعات خلال ظهوره في جلسة نادي "فالداي" السنوية، بناء على دعوة خاصة من الأكاديميين والصحفيين، أعقبت النداءات في الغرب لمقاطعة "دورة الألعاب الأولمبية الشتوية" في شباط/فبراير المقبل في "سوتشي"بسبب قانون روسي يحظر الترويج للشذوذ الجنسي(سوتشى تعتبر حاليا منتجعاً روسياً فاخراً يقع على ضفاف البحر الأسود تم اختيارها لتنظيم الألعاب الأولمبية الشتوية 2014).
ولقد دافع الرئيس الروسي عن ذلك القانون، مصرا على أنه يرمي إلى منع "الدعاية" للمثليين، وأصرّ "بوتين" على ذلك قائلا: "أود أن أؤكد من جديد أن وجود ممثلين للأقليات الجنسية ليس ضمن حقوقهم"،
ويعكس الخطاب تحول السيد "بوتين" إلى موقف أكثر تحفظا منذ عودته الى مقعد الرئاسة في العام الماضي في خطوة تهدف على ما يبدو إلى مناشدة أنصار القاعدة الشعبية خارج المدن الروسية.
ولقد أبدى الرئيس "بوتين" أداء متميزا جريئا فى مضمونة وكان في بعض الأحيان لاذعا. وبدلاً من العشاء المعتاد مع المشاركين، ألقى "بوتين" خطابه، ثم انضم إلى جلسة مؤتمر جنبا إلى جنب مع الضيوف المدعوين الأجانب، بما في ذلك رئيس الوزراء الفرنسي السابق "فرانسوا فيلون" ورئيس "المفوضية الأوروبية" السابق "رومانو برودي".
وقد داعب "بوتين" هذين الضيفين مازحا بملاحظة طريفة بأنهم أصدقاء لكل من السيد "برودي" والعدو السياسى رئيس الوزراء الإيطالي السابق "سيلفيو بيرلسكوني" قائلا: "برلسكوني بصدد محاكمة لحقيقة أنه يعايش إمرأة، ولكنه إذا كان مثلىّ الجنس، فلن يمسه أحد!
وكان سياسي أجنبى آخر من الذين شعروا بنهاية حادة لخفة دم السيد "بوتين" هو عضو مجلس شيوخ الولايات المتحدة السيناتور "جون ماكين"، الذي نشر مقالا على موقع "برافدا" Pravda.ru صباح اليوم الخميس قائلا: "أن السيد بوتين "طاغية" في الوطن وصديق لطغاة خارج الوطن "
كان المقال ردا على عمود السيد "بوتين" في نيويورك تايمز الأسبوع الماضي، الذي انتقد فيه التدخل الأحادي الجانب الأمريكي حول العالم. وقال السيد "بوتين" أن عضو مجلس الشيوخ كان مخطئا في اختياره لمنبر برافدا، الصحيفة الأكثر شهرة فى الحقبة السوفياتية، والتى كانت قد أغلقت بعد انهيار الاتحاد السوفيتي، مع موقع على شبكة الإنترنت يحمل اسم أنشىء في عام 1999 فقط.
وقال السيد "بوتين" أنّ السيد "ماكين" أراد أن ينشر في الصحيفة الأكثر ثقة والتداول الجماعي مردفا أنّ برافدا صحيفة محترمة اليوم من قِبل الحزب الشيوعي المعارض، لكن مستوى توزيعها في روسيا متدن.
وقال أنّ عضو مجلس الشيوخ قد أبدى آراءه بشأن بعض الأمور، ولكن أعتقد مع ذلك أنه يفتقر إلى معلومات عن بلادنا، وسوف نرحب به إذا جاء إلى نادي "فالداي" وانضم إلى مناقشاتنا التي أجريناها.
وقال الزعيم الروسي أنه لم يُمكّن "باراك أوباما" من "حفظ ماء الوجه" بإيجاد وسيلة له لتجنب تصويت الكونجرس على الضربات العسكرية التى فقدها. فرئيس الولايات المتحدة قد أنقذ ماء وجهه نفسه بالعزوف عن العمل العسكري.
وقال السيد "بوتين" أنه كان "مؤمّلا" في أنّ يمتثل الرئيس السوري "بشار الأسد" بالكامل لخطة الأسلحة، على الرغم من أنه لا يوجد ضمان. وقال أنّ موافقة سوريا على الانضمام إلى اتفاقية الأسلحة الكيميائية كان خطوة موحية بالأمل.
وأصر الزعيم الروسي أنه من "غير الصحيح" الحديث حول ما إذا كانت روسيا ستدعم استخدام القوة إذا أخلّت سوريا بالتزاماتها المتضمنة بالخطة
وقال ليس لدينا أسباب للشك حاليا فى أنها سوف لن تف بالتزاماتها ". "إذا لم يفعلوا ذلك، سندرس هذه المسألة، لكن الحديث عن هذا الآن أمر سابق لأوانه".
utin urges Russians to return to values of religion
By Neil Buckley in Valdai, Russia
Vladimir Putin called on Russians to strengthen a new national identity based on conservative and traditional values such as the Orthodox church on Thursday, warning that the west was facing a moral crisis.
“Sovereignty, independence, the integrity of Russia – those are red lines that no one is allowed to cross,” the Russian president warned.
Mr Putin said Russia should avoid the example of European countries that were “going away from their roots”, by legalising gay marriage and excessive “political correctness”.
“A policy is being conducted of putting on the same level multi-child families and single-sex partnerships, belief in God and belief in Satan. The excesses of political correctness are leading to the point where people are talking seriously about registering parties whose goal is legalising the propaganda of paedophilia,” Mr Putin claimed.
“People in many European countries are ashamed, and are afraid of talking about their religious convictions. [Religious] holidays are being taken away or called something else, shamefully hiding the essence of the holiday,” the Russian president added.
“We need to respect the rights of minorities to be different, but the rights of the majority should not be in question,” he said.
Mr Putin’s comments, in a three-hour appearance at the annual Valdai Club meeting of specially invited academics and journalists, followed calls in the west for a boycott of next February’s Winter Olympics in Sochi because of a Russian law banning promotion of homosexuality.
he Russian president defended the law, insisting it was designed to prevent gay “propaganda”. “I would like to reiterate that representatives of sexual minorities are not repressed in their rights,” he insisted.
The speech reflected Mr Putin’s shift to a more conservative stance since he returned as president last year, a move apparently designed to appeal to grassroots supporters outside Russia’s cities.
The president gave a characteristically assured and sometimes caustic performance. In place of the customary dinner with participants he gave a speech and then joined a conference session alongside invited foreign guests, including former French prime minister François Fillon and former European Commission president Romano Prodi.
He joked of being friends with both Mr Prodi and the former Italian premier’s political foe, Silvio Berlusconi. “Berlusconi is on trial for the fact that he lives with women, but if he was a homosexual, no one would touch him,” Mr Putin quipped.
Another foreign politician who felt the sharp end of Mr Putin’s wit was US senator John McCain, who on Thursday morning published an opinion piece on thePravda.ru website saying Mr Putin was a “tyrant” at home and friend of tyrants abroad”.
The article was an answer to Mr Putin’s column in the New York Times last week, in which he criticised US unilateral intervention around the world. Mr Putin said the senator had been mistaken in his choice of outlet. Pravda, the most famous newspaper of the Soviet era, was closed down after the Soviet collapse, with the website bearing the name established only in 1999.
“[Mr McCain] wants to be published in the newspaper that is most authoritative and has mass circulation,” said Mr Putin. “Pravda is a respected publication today of the opposition Communist party, but the level of its distribution in the country is minimal.
“The senator has his views on things, but I think nonetheless he lacks information about our country. I would welcome it if he came to the Valdai Club and joined our discussions.”
But Mr Putin avoided triumphalism towards Washington, despite Russia’s diplomatic coup in agreeing with the US last weekend a plan for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons to international control.
The Russian leader said he had not enabled Barack Obama to “save face” by finding a way for him to avoid a Congress vote on military strikes he might have lost. The US president, Mr Putin said, had saved face himself by backing away from military action.
Mr Putin said he was “hopeful” that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would comply in full with the weapons plan, though there was no guarantee. He said Syria’s agreement to join the chemical weapons convention was a hopeful step.
The Russian leader insisted that it was “not correct” to talk about whether Russia would support the use of force if Syria breached its commitments under the plan.
“We don’t have grounds to doubt for now that they will not fulfil their commitments,” he said. “If they don’t, we will examine the issue, but to talk about this now is premature.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
utin urges Russians to return to values of religion
By Neil Buckley in Valdai, Russia
Vladimir Putin called on Russians to strengthen a new national identity based on conservative and traditional values such as the Orthodox church on Thursday, warning that the west was facing a moral crisis.
“Sovereignty, independence, the integrity of Russia – those are red lines that no one is allowed to cross,” the Russian president warned.
Mr Putin said Russia should avoid the example of European countries that were “going away from their roots”, by legalising gay marriage and excessive “political correctness”.
“A policy is being conducted of putting on the same level multi-child families and single-sex partnerships, belief in God and belief in Satan. The excesses of political correctness are leading to the point where people are talking seriously about registering parties whose goal is legalising the propaganda of paedophilia,” Mr Putin claimed.
“People in many European countries are ashamed, and are afraid of talking about their religious convictions. [Religious] holidays are being taken away or called something else, shamefully hiding the essence of the holiday,” the Russian president added.
“We need to respect the rights of minorities to be different, but the rights of the majority should not be in question,” he said.
Mr Putin’s comments, in a three-hour appearance at the annual Valdai Club meeting of specially invited academics and journalists, followed calls in the west for a boycott of next February’s Winter Olympics in Sochi because of a Russian law banning promotion of homosexuality.
he Russian president defended the law, insisting it was designed to prevent gay “propaganda”. “I would like to reiterate that representatives of sexual minorities are not repressed in their rights,” he insisted.
The speech reflected Mr Putin’s shift to a more conservative stance since he returned as president last year, a move apparently designed to appeal to grassroots supporters outside Russia’s cities.
The president gave a characteristically assured and sometimes caustic performance. In place of the customary dinner with participants he gave a speech and then joined a conference session alongside invited foreign guests, including former French prime minister François Fillon and former European Commission president Romano Prodi.
He joked of being friends with both Mr Prodi and the former Italian premier’s political foe, Silvio Berlusconi. “Berlusconi is on trial for the fact that he lives with women, but if he was a homosexual, no one would touch him,” Mr Putin quipped.
Another foreign politician who felt the sharp end of Mr Putin’s wit was US senator John McCain, who on Thursday morning published an opinion piece on thePravda.ru website saying Mr Putin was a “tyrant” at home and friend of tyrants abroad”.
The article was an answer to Mr Putin’s column in the New York Times last week, in which he criticised US unilateral intervention around the world. Mr Putin said the senator had been mistaken in his choice of outlet. Pravda, the most famous newspaper of the Soviet era, was closed down after the Soviet collapse, with the website bearing the name established only in 1999.
“[Mr McCain] wants to be published in the newspaper that is most authoritative and has mass circulation,” said Mr Putin. “Pravda is a respected publication today of the opposition Communist party, but the level of its distribution in the country is minimal.
“The senator has his views on things, but I think nonetheless he lacks information about our country. I would welcome it if he came to the Valdai Club and joined our discussions.”
But Mr Putin avoided triumphalism towards Washington, despite Russia’s diplomatic coup in agreeing with the US last weekend a plan for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons to international control.
The Russian leader said he had not enabled Barack Obama to “save face” by finding a way for him to avoid a Congress vote on military strikes he might have lost. The US president, Mr Putin said, had saved face himself by backing away from military action.
Mr Putin said he was “hopeful” that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would comply in full with the weapons plan, though there was no guarantee. He said Syria’s agreement to join the chemical weapons convention was a hopeful step.
The Russian leader insisted that it was “not correct” to talk about whether Russia would support the use of force if Syria breached its commitments under the plan.
“We don’t have grounds to doubt for now that they will not fulfil their commitments,” he said. “If they don’t, we will examine the issue, but to talk about this now is premature.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
