President Dmitriy Medvedev made a revolutionary speech at a meeting of ambassadors and permanent representatives of Russia abroad at the Russian Federation Foreign Ministry yesterday (12 July). He named the EU and America as Moscow’s key partners. And he stated that the Foreign Ministry’s main task was the modernization and democratization of Russia. Kommersant correspondent Vladimir Solovyev was listening to the president’s instructions on the abrupt change in foreign policy.
Having assembled in Moscow for the meeting with the president, which is held every two years, Russian diplomats wondered, while waiting for Dmitriy Medvedev, what he would say to them this time. Some thought that they would all hear once again about how Russia had got up off its knees and is now firmly on its feet. Others were not so optimistic.
«Well, we were never on our knees! We are lying flat on our faces, like we were before,» one of those taking part in the meeting with the president let slip behind the scenes.
The person who said this had guessed the tone in which both the open part of the meeting that was key for the Russian Federation Foreign Ministry took place, and of the part that was closed to the press. In contrast to the equivalent meeting in June 2008, not a word was said at it about Russia having got stronger and being a force to be reckoned with in the world. On the other hand, much was said about the need to change the country, and to change ourselves.
Dmitriy Medvedev immediately warned that he would be talking for a long time. His speech, which, Kommersant ’s source in the Kremlin assured us, the head of state had written himself, really was long. Moreover, it was chequered with keynote statements that differed radically from all the directives that the Kremlin had previously given to Russian diplomats. Firstly, Dmitriy Medvedev, who announced a long time ago that overcoming the country’s technological backwardness was his chief project, stated that it was necessary to actively «use foreign policy tools for the purposes of modernization».
«Our diplomats should also know all the basic spheres in which we are engaged, like the Lord’s Prayer,» Mr Medvedev let drop in the hushed room.
He listed three tasks, which all diplomatic employees without exception must now concentrate on accomplishing. Firstly, modernizing the economy and production. Secondly, strengthening the institutions of Russian democracy and civil society. And, finally, the fight against organized crime. These tasks have never before been declared as the priorities for the Russian Foreign Ministry. It is possible that that is why Mr Medvedev decided to explain to his astounded listeners how they should go about it.
He said the Foreign Ministry could do their bit for modernization by establishing links with countries whose cooperation «will give the best return for the development of technology in Russia» and would help to provide access for «high-tech Russian products on regional and global markets». To achieve this, Russia’s embassies abroad should involve the world intellectual elite and NGOs in the discussion of modernization issues and, as the president put it, «work more actively with them in general».
«This is very specific work, it is easy to assess its outcome, including for the country’s leaders,» the president stressed, thus making it clear that it would be just as easy to call people to account for failing to carry out this instruction.
Dmitriy Medvedev suggested to diplomats who they should establish contact with in the first instance: Germany, France, Italy, the EU as a whole, as well as with America. The CIS countries, cooperation with which had previously been named as strategic, were only mentioned this time after the states of the Asia-Pacific region.
Explaining the importance of the development of democracy in Russia to the diplomatic corps, Dmitriy Medvedev noted that Moscow «must facilitate the humanization of social systems every where in the world and first and foremost at home». Until yesterday, Russian leaders, who have always easily taken up with countries such as Iran and North Korea, have never come out with such directives — it has been customary to hear them mostly from Western, in the first instance American, politicians. But Dmitriy Medvedev continued to surprise:
«It is in the interests of Russian democracy that the greatest possible number of states should adhere to democratic standards in their domestic policy.»
However, the president made a proviso, such standards «cannot be imposed unilaterally». He said they «should be developed jointly, taking into account the opinions of all the interested states», including those where democracy has been established recently and where it has still just not been established.
Another important instruction, which Mr Medvedev gave Russian diplomats, concerned them directly:
«Proceeding from the multi-vector nature of modern life, we should work openly, renouncing confrontation, and should sometimes simply remove the blinkers that any state may have, and which our country probably has as well. We must find the strength to renounce stereotypes, even if they were acquired long ago while studying at MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations).»
The president was essentially urging Foreign Ministry staff to do some work on themselves in the ideological sphere. And he cited Poland — where a radical change for the better has occurred in its relations with Russia — as an example of the advantage of such self-improvement.
It would be quite appropriate to point also to the recent high-profile espionage row, which has been resolved in a manner that is amicable and painless for Russo-American relations, as another example, and possibly one that is much more striking. However, the president did not do this. Kommersant ’s source from Mr Medvedev’s staff reported that he did not mention the spies during the closed part of the meeting either: «He did not talk about this so that everyone understood — we should not get hung up on such things.»
The most interesting conversation with the diplomats took place after the press had been sent out of the conference hall. According to those who took part in the closed section who Kommersant questioned, Dmitriy Medvedev criticized the Foreign Ministry on several fronts. In particular, departmental employees caught it for frequently sending telegrams to the center with little substance. «They were told that the president is able to read himself on the Internet about events happening in the world. And much sooner than they report them to him. The diplomats got into trouble about the lack of analysis in their reports and the lack of suggestions about how to proceed in a given situation,» Kommersant ’s source said.
This was to all intents and purposes confirmed by Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Foreign Affairs Duma Committee, who attended the meeting. «The speech was very exacting, and in the closed section extremely tough. We are facing more serious tasks, and they will require mobilization. I think that for the heads of the Foreign Ministry this was a useful conversation and one that was rich in content,» the parliamentarian told Kommersant.
An employee in the Kremlin administration who asked not to be named explained the meaning of the private meeting between the president and the diplomatic corps: «The following directive was given: either change your view of things and your minds — or leave this profession.» In his conversation with Kommersant, his subordinate named the diplomats’ speeches heard at the meeting as the best illustration of what Dmitriy Medvedev was calling for people to combat. He said Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s permanent representative to the EU, was indignant in his speech about advice given by Europeans who insist that Moscow should guarantee the rule of law in Russia and work with civil society, within the framework of the P artnership for Modernization joint program with the EU. «He seemed not to hear that the president was speaking literally right in front of him about democracy and about cooperation with Europe. This immediately highlighted the mental gap between the goals set by Medvedev and some diplomats’ perception of reality. And this is despite the fact that Chizhov is a good diplomat,» the Kremlin official complained.
Mr Medvedev also spoke about the urgent need to change people’s way of thinking at a meeting with young diplomats and veterans of the diplomatic service. He attended it together with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who had just been given an award «for services to the fatherland», class II. In conversation with the president, many veterans praised Minister Lavrov for his concern for them.
«And do you know why he takes care of you?» Mr Medvedev asked them. «Because he will soon be a veteran himself.»
They all started to laugh. Even Sergey Lavrov.
