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Alexander Romanovich received a delegation of Scandinavian journalists 12 ноября 2014 On November 11, Alexander Romanovich, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs, a deputy of the A JUST RUSSIA State Duma faction received a delegation consisting of the leaders and reporters of the mass media of the Scandinavian countries: Anna Ruohonen, Press Officer of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the observers of Svenska Dagbladed, a Swedish newspaper; the reporters of Berlingske Business, a Danish edition and the observers and political analysts interested in the events taking place in Russia and around it. The participants of the meeting decided to refuse from a protocol opening speech of the hosting side and at once passed on to the questions of the guests. The first question might be predicted: it was about misunderstanding that rose between Russia and the West. Alexander Romanovich reminded the journalists of the event that took place 25 years ago – tumbling down of the Berlin Wall – the jubilee the politician was personally present at several days before the meeting. According to the Russian parliamentarian, termination of the cold war was marked with an ultimate victory of the West. Russia behaved as a defeated side which was illustrated by withdrawal of 2.5 mln Soviet-Russian soldiers from Eastern Europe while the NATO expanded close to the Russian borders. It became possible because first Mikhail Gorbachev and then Boris Eltsin failed to conclude mutually beneficial geopolitical agreements with the western countries. The deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs believes that the country "was on its knees" during the first post-soviet decade when Russia was torn by the social woes and economic problems. However, the pressure on Russia did not ease; just on the contrary, it was soaring: the 2008 crisis in Georgia, the first Kiev Maidan in 2004 etc. illustrate it. Alexander Romanovich stated that at present the cold war is already on. "But the advisors to Barak Obama badly orientate themselves in Eastern Europe. They underestimated the degree of mutual integration between Russia and Ukraine, the degree of unity of the two nations," the Duma deputy said. Answering the question how legitimate is the functioning government of Ukraine from the Russian point of view, Mr. Romanovich stressed that in legal terms, the leadership of today’s Ukraine is not legitimate. "They are in power only because President Yanukovich whom Russia decided to bind to by mistake was ousted and had to flee. But the leadership of Russia politically recognizes powers of Ukraine," the politician declared. Alexander Romanovich thinks that It will be possible to determine the fates of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics in the south-east of Ukraine only after the combat operations have ceased. The parliamentarian noted that at present he does not see any opportunity for a full-scale integration of these territories into Ukraine. In his view, the Pridnestrovsky variant seems to be the most realistic one. The questions asked by the Swedish, Danish and Finnish journalists touched upon a wide range of the topical issues of the international politics, including the Middle East conflicts, the referendum on independence in Catalonia and the language policy of various states. Alexander Romanovich emphasized that in Finland where the Swedish population is a tiny minority, there are two state languages. A similar policy is pursued in Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. The Duma deputy reminded that the Ukrainian crisis (that was so much spoken about at the meeting) reached the stage of war only after Kiev had abolished bilingualism even at the level of regions.
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