№ 17 (3167)

08.02.2006

William Burns came to Kazan for the first time after his appointment as an USA-Ambassador to the Russian Federation. Here he met representatives of the Tatarstan’s business circles, the president Mintimer Shaimiyev, religious leaders in the Russian Islam university, graduates of Russian-American educational exchange programs, Kazan state university students.

Every next meeting became more and more informal. The first meeting was very formal, judging by a sentence of a present director’s corps representative. He said: we do not really need American capital investments any longer, thank you. The second meeting was more conсerned with Mintimer Shaymiyev. He unlike the business circles knows, why he needs the USA Ambassador: to tell the whole world about religious and national tolerance prevailing in Tatarstan. And the people, who already had taken part in American educational programs or just cherish a hope to do it, had intense interest indeed.

In this consecution of meetings according their formality degree, we can place the press conference between the meetings with religious leaders and exchange-programs graduates. The round table for mass-media was established in the Kazan American center (in one of the buildings of National library of Tatarstan). The table, as the whole center office, was very nice but small – it was far from typical Russian round-table discussions, were you can not touch the superior; the journalists were literally sitting shoulder to shoulder to the USA Ambassador. Yet the truth is that we were shocked already on the entrance to the building: it was absolutely free, there even had found a place a small truck (it was absolutely different, as the new plenipotentiary of the Russian president came to Kazan – the street was blocked beforehand).

As William Burns came in, the reason of this carelessness became evident to me. Any usual security measures are superfluous if you are escorted by James Bond himself, and the interpreter of Mr. Ambassador looked just like Sean Connery – the best agent 007 of all Bond films! He had a special smile by Bond with a squint. And William Burns himself smiled as the USA president John Kennedy, I would say. It seemed to me, it was possible to ask hard questions in this company and even to get direct answers. I took an occasion, reminding Mister Ambassador about the "espionage scandal" in Moscow. There was no harm for the "spies"; there was harm for non-governmental remedial organizations. For it is being rumored now that they live from "espionage money".

- There are also remedial organizations in Kazan, - I told the Ambassador, - which get American grants. Do the USA intent to stop this kind of support?

- We are very proud that the USA could help and support a wide circle of non-governmental organizations in Russia, - answered Mr. Burns firmly, - and we are going to it in the future. We will try to support them in any way within the bounds of the Russian law.

Mr. Ambassador declared, stressing that the Russians themselves should answer the question about political future of Russia:

- The non-governmental organizations in Russia, as in the other countries of the world, became the instrument, which helped the citizens to become involved into the solution of the wide circle of questions about creating a civil society, the questions of the public health service, of education... Many of these organizations, not only in Russia, find the using of the experience and expert examination of foreign foundations very helpful. We are maximally transparent rendering this assistance.

So, the "espionage" theme was closed. But another painful one appeared: about the prophet Mohammed cartoons...

- The United States find these cartoons deep offensive, - William Burns said. – At the same time we find that people who blame such manifestations should express it peacefully.

- Do not you think that a tolerant person is much more vulnerable than the one who uses power; that the tolerance is doomed to loose? – I asked. – It seems that the civilization, we call western, can not withstand the force of the people who are ready to go to the streets, to crush people not agreeing to them...

- It`s a great question, - Mr. Burns said and considered for a moment. – I think in the long-range outlook tolerance will make a great power. I think that the model of openness and tolerance makes a society, where these values took roots, more powerful. It does not mean that you do not expose yourself to dangers. Yes, people can use your tolerance to turn it again the society they live in... Yet in the long-range outlook the virtues of these systems overweight the risks. For people in these systems can decide themselves about their problems. The tolerance and open society institutions have great power.

Answering so, he got distinctly excited, as a person speaking about his individual views. "It was the best question!" – "Bond" taped me on the shoulder afterward. "And the answer was not bad", - I answered polite, but sincerely.

Marina YUDKEVICH.