#7
BBC Monitoring
Deputy Duma Chairman says Russia is ally of civilized world again
Source: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian 1000 gmt 30 Dec 01

[Presenter] Russian Liberal Democratic Party leader [Deputy State Duma Chairman] Vladimir Zhirinovskiy has called 2001 a crucial year for Russia, just like 1917 [October revolution], 1945 [victory in World War II] and 1991 [end of Communism].

[Zhirinovskiy] We have once again become allies of the civilized world which unites the USA, Europe and Russia. We are cooperating with it in the battle against international crime. This is a noble objective. This is a noble fight against those who condone violence on the planet of Earth. Perhaps not everything will go smoothly in the next few years, but it is safe to say that we have passed the turning point. There has been a change in the people's psychology. We have realized that we live in common world. Everybody is afraid of weather, natural hazards, terrorists and various accidents. It is the same everywhere. People are always threatened. Casualties are not unusual. So we all should unite our efforts in order to move further smoothly.