Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev has said that he is prepared for his ideas on modernizing political and economic life in Russia to run into resistance from certain groups.
"There will be problems, there is no doubt about that. There will be people who imitate modernization while not doing anything, there will be reports that we have modernized such and such a number of sectors, and there will be a request to issue rewards," the president said in a conversation with Belarusian journalists on Monday (23 November).
However, according to him, "if you think about the obstacles and hindrances which you will encounter, then you would be better not doing anything". "There are never any transformations which everybody would like. That's just twaddle. All types of modernization require internal tension, and by no means everybody is prepared for this," Medvedev added.
"I have to admit that in this sense officials are not the most progressive class. But to a certain extent an official needs to have defensive emotions, he needs to be a sensible conservative," the president thinks.
Meanwhile, in answer to another question, Medvedev expressed certainty that "the time for modernization in Russia has come". "We have spent almost 10 years stabilizing our state and making it stronger. We have achieved some things. This work was carried out seriously and has achieved results," he said.
However, in his opinion, "the aim of a state's development should not only and not mainly be to stabilize state institutions, rather for its citizens to live comfortably in the state".
For this to be the case, Medvedev stressed, it is necessary to adapt the economy and the political sphere to the demands of the day, and this requires modernization.
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