United Russia leader: European parties should be brought together

United Russia chairman Boris Gryzlov believes that "all major European parties should in the next decades be brought together by an awareness of the common destiny of the peoples of our countries." He said this in an interview with this correspondent on Friday in Berlin, where he was invited by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to attend festivities marking the 140th anniversary of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Gryzlov also emphasised "the need to grasp common problems and common questions to which we must learn to give understandable and credible answers." The party leader indicated that United Russia had never claimed to be Social Democratic. "We consider ourselves to be a party of the centre, a party of the average Russian. Naturally, we prize the ideals of justice, and effective distribution of benefits of economic progress," Gryzlov pointed out.

He expressed confidence that "only a just economy can be effective, and the greater the number of people enjoying its benefits, the more incentives there are for society to develop." "This is our position, it is what we believe in," the United Russia chairman indicated.

He reckons that "Russia should draw on SPD experience and examine the recipes it is offering to German society."