Vladislav Surkov - Quotations

Quotations

At a news conference held before G8 summit in June 2006, Surkov was quoted as saying "they tell us about democracy while thinking about our hydrocarbons", referring to the criticism on the situation with human rights, freedom of speech and democracy in Russia commonly heard from the West. This was followed by an even more sharp stance towards him taken by some Western media. Critics of Western coverage in Russia quote factual errors in such coverage and purposeful selection of respondents for such coverage that have no credibility at home and who do not represent majority opinion of Russian general public.

At a round table with leaders of most influential political forces in Russia dedicated to discussion of the concept of «sovereign democracy» that was held in August 2006, Surkov was quoted as saying the following on the matter: "We need to have our own voice. I don't think our target is to create some unheard exotics and to tell some self-contained things that our conversational partners would be unable to understand. Of course, not. But we should have our own version of the political language. The one who does not talk he is listening, and the one who is listening he obeys. If we are an independent nation, we should be participating in conversation. If we in Russia do not create our own discourse, our own public philosophy, our national ideology that would be acceptable for the majority of our citizens (at least for the majority, and preferably for all), then they are simply not going to talk to us and reckon with us. What is the point of talking to mute?"

In a 2005 interview with Der Spiegel, Surkov was quoted as saying: "That’s my personal quirk . Generally speaking, our problem is that the political leadership needs to motivate the bureaucrats more."

In July 2005, Surkov gave a "secret speech" to the "Business Russia" economic forum. The following quotes are from that speech:

"...our project is a commonplace one. I would name it briefly as a “sovereign democracy.” It is not good to add something to democracy because a third way issue appears. But we are forced to do that because liberal politicians consider the sovereignty issue as not actual. "

"I have a friend who says that if you fail to do something in 2 weeks, you will never be able to do it. Those bumpkins who sit there, they do not understand that there is no democracy in this country and bureaucracy is in-eradicable. That’s the problem of lack of patience and failure to take long-term efforts.... I think one has to be more persevering, more patient. And if something goes wrong one should not speak of complete failure, that the country is ruled by mediocrities who don’t understand a thing. This is not exactly so, or maybe, absolutely not so."

They are not enemies. They are simply competitors. So, it is more insulting that we are not enemies. An enemy situation is when one can be killed in a war as a hero if there is conflict. There is something heroic and beautiful in it. And to lose in a competitive struggle means to be a loser. And this is doubly insulting, I think.

At a meeting of United Russia's 2020 Forum in February 2009, Surkov said: "The system is working, it will cope with the crisis and get through it. If we had entered this zone of turbulence in a more-loosened condition, I assure you, the damage the state and society would have suffered would have been much greater...The crisis is still in its early stages in our country, but we are already prepared to say that we are prepared to revise our institutions and — I have read this myself! – rethink our values."

Surkov warned in an article published in October 2009 that Russia risked collapsing into chaos if officials tried to tinker with the political system by flirting with liberal reforms.

In answer to calls from opponents for democratic reforms to liberalize the political system built under former President Vladimir Putin, Surkov warned that the resulting instability could rip Russia apart. "Even now when power is rather consolidated and ordered, many projects are very slow and difficult," Surkov was quoted as saying by the Itogi weekly magazine. "If we add any sort of political instability to that then our development would simply be paralyzed. There would be a lot of demagoguery, a lot of empty talk, a lot of lobbying and ripping Russia to pieces, but no development."