02:07Russia: European experience 'not the best' regarding ethnic integration - Putin
SOT, Arif Kerimov, President, Federal Lezghin National-Cultural Autonomy (Russian): "Mr. President, I rely on the European experience. And I am referring to people who historically lived in the Russian Empire and in the Russian Federation not having their statehood outside Russia. These are our native and 'Russian' people."
SOT, Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (Russian): "Let's rely on our own experience, the European experience now is not the best. You've seen what is happening there. An immigrant raped a child in one European country. The court acquitted him on two grounds: he does not speak the language of the host country and did not understand that the boy, and it was a boy, objected. What they are doing cannot even be imagined. It is the result of corruption of traditional values and I do not even know how to explain it, a feeling of guilt towards these migrants? It is not even clear what is going on there. A society that cannot protect their children today, has no tomorrow, no future. Therefore, the experience they have is not the best. We have thousands of years of history of the formation of a multinational state. We have a much deeper experience. We also have a lot of problems, but the experience is much deeper than in many other countries."
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that "the European experience is not the best one" when it comes to the integration of ethnic and national groups. He was speaking at a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations in Astrakhan on Monday.
The President of the Federal Lezghin National-Cultural Autonomy Arif Kerimov told Putin that he relied on the European experience in the case of multicultural integration. Kerimov underlined that he was "referring to the people who historically lived in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation" and who were "native Russian people" but who now lived in Europe.
Putin suggested it would be better "to rely on our own [Russian] experience" and gave the example of a European country where a refugee was recently convicted of raping a child, but had the sentence overturned. The attacker, Putin said, was acquitted since "he does not speak the language of the host country and did not understand that the boy, and it was a boy, objected."
The Russian president said the incident was a result of "the corruption of traditional values or a feeling of guilt towards immigrants." Putin underlined that "a society that cannot protect their children today, has no future. Therefore, the experience they have is not the best."
"We have thousands of years of history of the formation of a multinational state. We have a much deeper experience," concluded Putin.
President Putin was likely referring to the case of a 10-year old boy who was attacked by an Iraqi man in Austria in December. The rape conviction was overturned recently by the Austrian Supreme Court. The attacker, identified only as Amir A, remains behind bars however as he was convicted of serious sexual assault. The defence council argued that the attacker may not have understood that the child had not consented. Amir A will remain in custody until a re-trial.
02:07SOT, Arif Kerimov, President, Federal Lezghin National-Cultural Autonomy (Russian): "Mr. President, I rely on the European experience. And I am referring to people who historically lived in the Russian Empire and in the Russian Federation not having their statehood outside Russia. These are our native and 'Russian' people."
SOT, Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (Russian): "Let's rely on our own experience, the European experience now is not the best. You've seen what is happening there. An immigrant raped a child in one European country. The court acquitted him on two grounds: he does not speak the language of the host country and did not understand that the boy, and it was a boy, objected. What they are doing cannot even be imagined. It is the result of corruption of traditional values and I do not even know how to explain it, a feeling of guilt towards these migrants? It is not even clear what is going on there. A society that cannot protect their children today, has no tomorrow, no future. Therefore, the experience they have is not the best. We have thousands of years of history of the formation of a multinational state. We have a much deeper experience. We also have a lot of problems, but the experience is much deeper than in many other countries."
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that "the European experience is not the best one" when it comes to the integration of ethnic and national groups. He was speaking at a meeting of the Council on Interethnic Relations in Astrakhan on Monday.
The President of the Federal Lezghin National-Cultural Autonomy Arif Kerimov told Putin that he relied on the European experience in the case of multicultural integration. Kerimov underlined that he was "referring to the people who historically lived in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation" and who were "native Russian people" but who now lived in Europe.
Putin suggested it would be better "to rely on our own [Russian] experience" and gave the example of a European country where a refugee was recently convicted of raping a child, but had the sentence overturned. The attacker, Putin said, was acquitted since "he does not speak the language of the host country and did not understand that the boy, and it was a boy, objected."
The Russian president said the incident was a result of "the corruption of traditional values or a feeling of guilt towards immigrants." Putin underlined that "a society that cannot protect their children today, has no future. Therefore, the experience they have is not the best."
"We have thousands of years of history of the formation of a multinational state. We have a much deeper experience," concluded Putin.
President Putin was likely referring to the case of a 10-year old boy who was attacked by an Iraqi man in Austria in December. The rape conviction was overturned recently by the Austrian Supreme Court. The attacker, identified only as Amir A, remains behind bars however as he was convicted of serious sexual assault. The defence council argued that the attacker may not have understood that the child had not consented. Amir A will remain in custody until a re-trial.