On October 25, 2004, in connection with a sharp intensification of extremist manifestations and a statement about the fight against manifestations of xenophobia by President V. Putin, Nezavisimaya Gazeta published a selection of opinions of Russian public figures on the growth of ethno-nationalism in Russia.

In particular, the chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alekseeva, the director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Valery Tishkov, and the general director of the Center for Ethnopolitical and Regional Studies, Emil Pain, actually agreed that statements similar to V. Putin's speech are just declarations. The real policy of the state, and in particular, the practice of law enforcement and judicial authorities in relation to ethno-nationalist manifestations, shows the opposite. The most striking example of "state ethno-nationalism" is the activities of the governor of the Krasnodar Territory, A. Tkachev.

The unwillingness of the prosecutor's office to prove the "ethnic motive" of a number of crimes, the fear of losing the "electorate" on the part of regional politicians in the event of protecting the rights of migrants, and similar examples of the inaction of the "state" only encourage ethno-nationalist sentiments that exist in society.

Sources

Nationalism is used to consolidate the electorate: Politicians deliberately do not tell the truth about the benefits of immigrants for the country, NG experts say // Independent newspaper. 2004. 25 October.

The state condones the growth of xenophobia