#15 - RW 271
Argumenty i Fakty
August 27, 2003
DMITRI ROGOZIN: THERE ARE NO POLITICAL PARTIES
Our society considers the United States to be a panacea
Author: Alexander Svetlov
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

DMITRI ROGOZIN, CHAIRMAN OF THE DUMA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, HAS FORMED A NEW POLITICAL ALLIANCE TOGETHER WITH SERGEI GLAZIEV. HERE HE TALKS ABOUT FOREIGN POLICY PLANS AND ACHIEVEMENTS, SAYING RUSSIA OUGHT TO LOOK TO EUROPE. HE ALSO DISCUSSES HIS NEW BLOC'S KEY FIGURES.

Dmitri Olegovich Rogozin, chairman of the Duma international affairs committee, talks about the layout of political forces and key figures in national politics.

AMBASSADORS ON TELEVISION

Question: What does the West think of Russia these days? Does it see Russia as an underdeveloped country with nuclear missiles - or a power that has only grown slightly weaker?

Dmitri Rogozin: Attitudes to Russia can be judged by what Western newspapers say. Although our president has managed to get some understanding from Western leaders on the issue of Chechnya, the Western media still continue to report lies about what is happening in the North Caucasus, as they have been doing all along.

Although there have been some positive changes starting from 2000, Russia's foreign policy remains unclear on a number of issues. The Balkans, for example. Why did we miss our opportunity and fail to defend our own interests? Or Mideast regulation. Our foreign policy system still remains traditional, reminiscent of the Soviet system. As long as an embassy's performance criteria are measured in numbers of telegrams sent to Moscow, we shall never have an effective system. Instead of this, the focus should be on criteria such as the number of contracts signed by Russian companies as a result of talks.

Question: How can Russia influence attitudes to itself in other countries?

Dmitri Rogozin: Well, how are the Americans having an impact on the development of the situation in Russia? Via their media outlets, and their agents of influence, and young Russian academics going to the United States to study. Mr. Vershbow, the American ambassador, constantly appears on television in Russia, defending the American point of view. Whether we like it or not, he's taking an active position. But do Russian ambassadors speak out on television in any other country? Some of them can't even speak the language of the country where they are based!

Where are the radio stations that might tell the world about events in Russia, and our culture and language? What's more, we need to influence the composition of parliaments in neighboring nations: so that forces which respect Russia come to power there.

Question: Many say we ought to be friends with America. You seem to be opposed to that.

Dmitri Rogozin: Unfortunately, our society is afflicted with Americanism and considers the United States to be a panacea. But Europe is more important for Russia these days: half of Russia's exports go to Europe, and only 6% go to the United States.

Therefore, our nation ought to follow the Europeans - in economic affairs, living standards, and social welfare issues. At the same time, we should maintain normal relations with the United States in security matters, since Europe is not a self-sufficient ally in this area at present. Europe does not have a strong army, nor any realistic mechanisms of eliminating or helping to eliminate the threat facing us from the south.

Question: This is an election year, but you have resigned from all parties. Why?

Dmitri Rogozin: People don't quit good parties. Anyway, I was never really a member of any party. Russia has no political parties. It's all a myth. The only real party people can join or quit is the Communist Party. All the rest are new formations.

There is one organization which I have worked to create and of which I am a member. This is the Congress of Russian Communities (CRC).

Question: Now you will have to compete in the elections against United Russia and others among your former comrades. Gennadi Raikov, for example.

Dmitri Rogozin: Sergei Glaziev and I have decided to launch a new political project. Glaziev and I go a long way back, and we understand each other very well. Glaziev has a really powerful policy program aimed at an economic breakthrough for Russia. He and I, with our supporters, will be able to implement it.

Question: The Communists are saying that you were instructed by the Kremlin to "pull" Glaziev out of the Communist Party.

Dmitri Rogozin: I am one of the president's special envoys. I can telephone him or arrange to meet with him. I value that. Any true politician, including opposition politicians, will always try to make full use of an exceptional opportunity to serve his country. And if I have helped the president find a worthy solution to the problem of travel to and from the Kaliningrad region, that means I have made use of such an opportunity. Therefore, the provocational rumor that I was assigned to split the Communist Party can't be taken seriously. But it's a good excuse for the Communist Party to explain its split with Glaziev. They ought to have made an honest admission that they just didn't want to give this young leader of leftist-patriotic forces any opportunity to advance further. They simply feared that Glaziev would become a rival for Zyuganov.

Question: But besides Glaziev, your alliance also includes General Shpak, former Central Bank chairman Gerashchenko, and Varennikov, a member of the State of Emergency Committee in August 1991. These are very diverse people to have on the same team. Can they get along?

Dmitri Rogozin: I think we need to unite real personalities, strong figures. Varennikov became my idol in the early 1990s. Unlike the other members of the State of Emergency Committee, he did not agree to accept an amnesty; he went to court to seek justice, and managed to get his honor and dignity restored.

Shpak is the commander of the Airborne Troops. This is a person who holds completely different views on military reforms, compared to Kvashnin. In the finest traditions of Russia's officer corps, he chose not to find his own son a safe desk job - although he could have done so. Unfortunately, his son was killed in Chechnya.

Gerashchenko is a brilliant financial expert. He represents the best of the Soviet elite, to whom the USSR owed many of its achievements.

We fought to get each of these people on our team, being convinced that we need them. These people will speak from a position based a strong state, the national interest, and social support for Russian citizens. After all, there are 40 million people living in poverty in Russia.

(Translated by Sergei Kolosov )

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