Authorities attempt to gather peoples

The plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District and the Union of Diasporas of the Russian Federation (UDR-CNOR) assisted by the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, according to the annual message by the President V.V.Putin, proposed the initiative of staging a series of scientific-practical conferences on the theme of "Polyethnic Resource of the Russian Statehood" in all federal districts of the country. The initiative was supported by Committees of the RF FA State Duma on affairs of nationalities and on affairs of public associations and religious organizations, and also by the Russian Academy of State Service under the President of the Russian Federation.

Among the Conference participants, who numbered over 400 person, there were heads of the Russian Federation subjects, members of the FA RF Council of Federation, deputies of the State Duma, members of regional parliaments, employees of federal ministries and departments, heads of all-Russian and regional ethnic diasporas, hierarchs of Russia’s traditional confessions, scientists, creative workers and journalists. All of them were surprised with the representation level of Russia’s traditional confessions: His Holiness Cyril as the chief of the Russian Orthodox Church delegation, both Chief Rabbis leading the delegation from Judaists, Supreme Mufti Talgat Tadjuddin as the delegation head of Moslems. Unexpectedly active appeared participation in the Conference of the Euro-Asian Jewish congress (EAJC) which was represented by the EAJC Secretary General, President of the Vaada of Russia M.Chlenov and one of Russian founders of the EAJC, President of the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC) E.Satanovsky.

The Conference was addressed with greetings from heads of both chambers of the Russian Parliament G.N.Selezneva and S.V.Mironova. At the plenary session spoke: Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad Cyril, Supreme Mufti of Russia and CIS Countries of CIS Talgat Tadjuddin, RF Minister V.Y.Zorin, Vice-President of the RF FC A.P.Torshin, Chairman of the RF FC State Duma Committee on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations V.I.Zorkaltsev, Director of the Institute of History and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences of V.A.Tishkov, First Vice-President of the Union of Diasporas of the Russian Federation R.I.Spektor, etc. The conference continued on January, 21 in the Assembly Hall of the Russian State Academy.

At the final plenary session conducted by Chairman of Expert Council on National and Migration Policy and Coopertion with Religious Associations at the office of the Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District V.A.Mihajlov's, there spoke: RAGS rector Egorov. President of the SDR V.G.Mushegyan was awarded with a commemorative medal of League of Small Peoples and Ethnic Groups which was handed to him by the League’s head, People's Deputy of the USSR of last the convocation E.A.Gaer.

The participants discussed amendments and additions to the project of recommendations and agreed to continue in expediency the new form of partnership of the public with bodies of the government in all the other federal districts of Russia. The series of actions will be finished by the all-Russian conference which will generalize the experience and set prospects for normative and practical efforts directed to support the course of reforms in the Russian Federation.

In the opinion of participants and observers, the Conference in its format and orientation is quite comparable to the Civil Forum, around which there was an uproar much more loud than its outcome.