A round table was held in the Moscow City Duma on the topic "National extremism among youth. Ways to solve it"

On November 19, 2007, a round table was held in the Moscow City Duma on the topic “National extremism among youth. Solutions.” The event was held as part of a joint meeting of the commissions on interethnic and interfaith relations, physical education, sports and youth affairs. The round table was attended by deputies of the Moscow City Duma, members of the youth chamber at the Moscow City Duma, members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, representatives of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate, leaders of the All-Russian public organization "Al-Haq" ("Justice"), teachers of capital universities, and lawyers.

A representative of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate stated that in 2007, 33 crimes of a nationalist nature were committed in the capital (last year there were 12); 20 of them have been revealed.

According to deputy Igor Eleferenko, the root cause of the growth of national extremism among young people lies “not in the particulars of a national, cultural or religious nature, but in the general social situation in which the personal, social, professional potential of young people often does not find opportunities for their positive implementation".

Deputy Irina Velikanova noted that an important reason for the growth of national extremism among young people is the deep social stratification in society: according to the round table participants, adolescents and young people from socially disadvantaged environments are primarily prone to extremism.

Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Vladimir Platonov emphasized that Moscow was the first among the regions to pass a law banning the production, use and distribution of Nazi symbols. The Moscow City Duma introduced legislative initiatives to the State Duma: a draft law on combating extremism and an initiative to ban mentioning in the media the nationality of those suspected of crimes.

According to deputy Mikhail Moskvin-Tarkhanov, the danger lies not only in the growth of the number of organized nationalist groups among young people, but also in the provision of a theoretical basis for their activities: this is no longer done by young people, but by adult ideologists of nationalism.

The round table participants were unanimous in their decision to support the recently expressed initiative of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov to revive the Ministry of Nationalities of the Russian Federation.

Summing up the results of the round table, Igor Eleferenko emphasized that the problem of the growth of national extremism among young people can only be solved by combining the relevant efforts of government bodies and administration and the civil community - scientific institutions, public associations, national and religious communities.

Sources

• Measures to combat national extremism among youth were discussed in the Moscow City Duma // REGNUM news agency. 2007. November 19.