Governor of St. Petersburg: “Tolerance has always been in the minds of St. Petersburg residents since childhood, like a vaccination”

On April 1, 2008, the governor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko, at a meeting of the city government, stated that "St. Petersburg has always been a multinational city, there have never been interethnic conflicts. In the minds of a Petersburger, tolerance has always been from childhood, like an inoculation. "

According to V. Matvienko, the city authorities have always given "a tough assessment of manifestations of interethnic hatred . "

The governor noted that offenses motivated by ethnic hatred "do not correspond to the mentality of St. Petersburg residents ," and those teenagers who commit such offenses "get together in packs under the leadership of fascist leaders . "

V. Matviyenko added that "the Committee on Education and the Committee on Youth Policy should work with such young people. They need to be identified, and we need to work systematically in schools, colleges, universities" .

Recall that back in 2006, Matvienko stated that allegations of the presence of neo-Nazis in the city are a "conspiracy against the city", and in 2003 she generally refused to admit the existence of racist crimes in the city.

Sources

• Matvienko: Teenagers should not stray into flocks led by fascists // Rosbalt. 2008. April 1st.