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Presidential Candidates Differ Over Russiaâ€™s Friends, Enemies

29 February 2012 03:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. During televised debates in Russiaâ€™s Siberia, presidential candidates Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Zhirinovsky disagreed over the countryâ€™s potential friends and enemies, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.

While Billionaire Prokhorov insisted on the need for Russia to further integrate with Europe, nationalist LDPR party leader Zhirinovsky pushed for closer ties with â€œour Slavic brothersâ€ such as Belarus and Ukraine and warned against â€œenemiesâ€ such as Western powers, Japan and China.

â€œThree global centers are currently being shaped: the United States and Latin America; China, India and other Asian countries, and Russia with Europe,â€ Prokhorov said during Tuesday debates.

Neither Russia nor Europe will be able to meet competition â€œin the new world order;â€ therefore, â€œEurope is our strategic partner,â€ he concluded.

Russia and the European Union should drop visas and create a common economic space â€“ â€œa powerful economic area,â€ he said.

As for Russiaâ€™s southern neighbors, the 46 year-old oligarch said his policies would be just opposite: stricter border controls and visa regulation to prevent drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

â€œThis is the only right policy for our country,â€ he added.

Prokhorov said â€œundemocratic and unfriendly regimes where human rights are violated,â€ such as Iran and Syria, were Russiaâ€™s potential enemies.

â€œBut we should always take Russiaâ€™s interests into considerationâ€¦ Foreign policy is our development tool,â€ he added.
Zhirinovsky said the United States, its European allies, Turkey, Japan and China were Russiaâ€™s enemies because they wanted to â€œdestroy our country.â€

Among Russiaâ€™s friends he named Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and â€œKorea.â€

Zhirinovsky and Prokhorov will challenge powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the presidential vote scheduled for March 4.