Rustam Minnikhanov: Interethnic concord and stability is the matter of constant diligent work of all the state and public institutions

On May 15, a seminar chaired by Deputy Plenipotentiary of Russian President in Volga Federal District Oleg Melnichenko with deputies of highest officials of Russian constituent territories responsible for ethno-confessional relations was held in Kazan. Deputy Chief of Staff of Russian Presidential Administration Magomedsalam Magomedov, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov and other officials took part in the event.

The meeting discussed the question of practice and tasks of executive authorities of the Russian constituent territories in implementation of Strategies of the state national politics of the Russian Federation till 2025. On the instructions of Russian President such events shall be held in all federal districts, then they shall become annual.

According to Oleg Melnichenko, the Volga Federal District is distinct in multinational population and is an example of mutual respect for various peoples and representatives of confessions. At the same time, as for the official, there are problems in the district in the field of ethnic and confessional relations that require consistent work of authorities of different levels. Among such problems the plenipotentiary named weak integration of migrants into society, in particular, formation of closed ethnic enclaves, growth of extremism, decline of tolerance among young people, spreading of various nationalistic and radical religious movements. Furthermore, Melnichenko noted low level of training of state and municipal employees responsible for the scope of ethnic and confessional relations.

Magomedsalam Magomedov noted the positive experience of Tatarstan in the field of interethnic and interfaith relations.

At the same time Magomedov said that different authorities with different functions and powers are in charge of implementation of state national policy, and there is no vertical with common tasks and goals. According to him, each district should have a deputy head of the region responsible for the given scope.

Speaking at the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov noted that Tatarstan has faced serious challenges in the field of ethnic and confessional relations for the last years that made the republic authorities intensify the work in all directions from law protection activity to strengthening of the open interethnic and inter-confessional dialogue for collaborative problem solving.

“Interethnic concord and stability is not the gift from above, but the matter of constant diligent work of all the state and public institutions,” Rustam Minnikhanov pointed out.