United Russia held its last pre-congress discussion

On Wednesday, United Russia (UR) held its third and final panel discussion ahead of its congress on December 17, at which the party will support Vladimir Putin as a presidential candidate in the 2024 elections. The event was called “The Future of Russia”, and it was personally hosted by United Russia Chairman Dmitry Medvedev. He urged not to underestimate the contribution of the authorities to the future of the country and at the same time recalled its past, namely the 80s of the 20th century, which, according to him, were not stagnant at all. The country then, according to the recollections of the United Russia member, was developing “blissfully”, and even the war in Afghanistan did not affect it. Other participants in the discussion tried to prove that the country is developing well now.

Dmitry Medvedev was in a philosophical mood, which he immediately admitted: “When I came here, I thought: our future – how much is it predetermined by what is happening now in the world, in the country? This is partly even a philosophical problem.” However, he immediately made a reservation that he would not “start boring conversations” and talk about “free will,” and moved on to simpler theses.

The first of them was that the future depends primarily on people, including the authorities, and with it the United Russia. “It would be strange to underestimate the contribution of the authorities, because often the authorities take actions that have a prolonged effect. The question is whether it is positive or negative,” Mr. Medvedev shared his experiences. “I hope that we are not mistaken here, that we are doing everything so that our country is strong, powerful, authoritative, so that we are taken into account,” the party member continued with cautious optimism. And he reminded that the image of the country’s future is directly related to the presidential elections, in which everything is clear for United Russia members: they support Vladimir Putin.

Toward the end of his speech, Dmitry Medvedev suddenly remembered the 1980s, which are commonly called “stagnation.” There was no stagnation, the country was developing very well, and the chairman of United Russia immediately carried out a historical revision. “There was Afghanistan, however, such a serious test for the country. But still, it was outside of it, and inside everything was very quiet and calm, even blissful… And then bam! — and that’s all: the country began to seethe and fell apart,” the party member briefly outlined his version and warned his comrades against repeating that scenario.

The second moderator of the discussion, Deputy Secretary of the United Russia General Council Daria Lantratova, shared the results of a survey of United Russia members from the regions on the topic of the future. “In fact, you have now summarized everything they said. Because for them the future is victory. And secondly, although it’s probably not entirely correct to say so, this is the sovereignty and independence of our country, this is, of course, strengthening the economy, these are specific plans for the development of regions and support for young scientists and technologies… And hope is the well-being of the family, the smiles of children , their happy faces,” Ms. Lantratova summarized opinions from the field. Her words were confirmed by a short video.

The rest of the speakers proceeded from the thesis “everything is fine in Russia, both in the present and in the future.” Volunteer of the “Young Guard of United Russia” Svetlana Evgrafova from the city of Shuya, Ivanovo region, told how her city supplies the whole country with high technologies, and she and her comrades actively participate in volunteer activities. Test cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov said that Russia has a unique space past and incredible opportunities in the future. The development of Russian science cannot be stopped, said Nikita Marchenkov, Chairman of the Council of Young Scientists under the President of the Russian Federation. And the Murmansk governor Andrei Chibis boasted that he managed to raise his region under the slogan “Live in the North!” “Only one request: don’t say “slogan”, there is the word “slogan”. This is basically the same thing, but why should we get carried away with these Americanisms?” — Dmitry Medvedev could not resist making an important remark.

Linguistic anti-Americanism was logically followed by political anti-Americanism. First, black blogger Lenz Kamara (roots in Africa, born in Russia) promised to “do everything to help Vladimir Putin and Russia restore justice in our fragile world.” Then the vice-president of the International Russophile Movement, Fabrice Sorlin, stood up to defend the world (his speech was prefaced by Daria Lantratova with the words that “in the West, in addition to Russophobes, there are a lot of actually normal people: we can remember the rallies of many thousands in France against the replacement of mom and dad for parent No. 1 and No. 2″). “The enemy that you are fighting in Donbass is the enemy that we, French patriots, are also fighting in France,” said Mr. Sorlin. After which the Secretary of the United Russia General Council Andrei Turchak even asked Dmitry Medvedev, as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, to help the Frenchman and his family in obtaining Russian citizenship. The United Russia chairman promised to do everything possible. And the result of the foreign policy discussion was summed up by the representative of Palestine, Katush Ahmed, who asked to speak from the floor. He told how wonderful Moscow is, scolded America for double standards in relation to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and thanked Russia for its position on the Middle East issue.

The last speaker was grandmaster Sergei Karyakin, whom FIDE last year disqualified for six months for writing a letter in support of a special military operation in Ukraine. His example gave Dmitry Medvedev the opportunity to end the discussion without repeating himself: “Each of us builds our own career. But at some point this career may come into conflict with the interests of the country. And then strong people choose their country. Because any career will end, but our country, our great Russia, will remain. We will be worthy of it!”

Andrey Vinokurov