Post #4003

On February 10, 2007, Russia's President Vladimir Putin took part at the Munich Security Conference and delivered a speech on the present state of the system of international relations and critical security challenges. ❗️The issues raised by President Putin have not lost their relevance to date. On the contrary, almost everything predicted, turned true and has never been more topical. Key highlights from the President’s historic speech: 💬 I consider that the unipolar model is not only unacceptable but also impossible in today’s world. <...> What is even more important is that the model itself is flawed because at its basis there is and can be no moral foundations for modern civilisation. <...> There is no reason to doubt that the economic potential of the new centres of global economic growth will inevitably be converted into political influence and will strengthen multipolarity. • One state, and, of course, first and foremost the US, has overstepped its national borders in every way. This is visible in the economic, political, cultural and educational policies it imposes on other nations. Well, who likes this? Who is happy about this? [Human rights compliance] is an important task. We support this. But this does not mean interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, and especially not imposing a regime that determines how these states should live and develop. It is obvious that such interference does not promote the development of democratic states at all. On the contrary, it makes them dependent and, as a consequence, politically and economically unstable. • No one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them. Of course such a policy stimulates an arms race. <...> The potential danger of the destabilisation of international relations is connected with obvious stagnation in the disarmament issue. ☝️I am convinced that we have reached that decisive moment when we must seriously think about the architecture of global security. <...> The need for principles such as openness, transparency and predictability in politics is uncontested. • The stones and concrete blocks of the Berlin Wall have long been distributed as souvenirs. But we should not forget that the fall of the Berlin Wall was possible thanks to a historic choice – one that was also made by our people, the people of Russia – a choice in favour of democracy, freedom, openness and a sincere partnership with all the members of the big European family. And now they are trying to impose new dividing lines and walls on us – these walls may be virtual but they are nevertheless dividing, ones that cut through our continent. And is it possible that we will once again require many years and decades, as well as several generations of politicians, to dissemble and dismantle these new walls? 🇷🇺 Russia is a country with a history that spans more than a thousand years and has practically always used the privilege to carry out an independent foreign policy. We are not going to change this tradition today. Read in full