MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti) - The ideological vacuum left by the collapse of the Soviet Union must be replaced with traditional cultural values, Russia's president said Tuesday.
"The ideological vacuum that emerged after the collapse of Communist ideology [in Russia] is being filled in with extremist tendencies, and they will not be defeated unless we take active measures to replace them with common human values," Vladimir Putin said, addressing members of the State Council.
A surge in violence targeting foreigners with non-Slavic features has prompted Russian and foreign human rights groups in recent months to raise concerns over the alarming spread of racist and xenophobic attitudes in the country.
The problem came into the spotlight after the murder of two Russians in an interethnic brawl in the northwestern town of Kondopoga sparked a wave of racial violence in early September. The local community accused authorities of failing to protect them or safeguard their interests, and of taking bribes from criminal immigrant groups.
The Interior Ministry said in November it is currently monitoring 150 extremist groups in Russia, in particular race-hate groups, which have total membership of around 10,000.
About 80% of the extremist groups' members are under 30, and most are based in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Samara and Voronezh regions, according to the ministry's data.
A recent string of attacks on foreign students has cast a shadow over Voronezh, about 310 miles south of Moscow, which has traditionally been a popular destination for foreign undergraduates.
St. Petersburg has also been a focus of unwelcome attention over neo-Nazi attacks and killings, including the murder of a student from Senegal in April and the stabbing of a nine-year-old girl of mixed Russian-African origin in early 2006. A Vietnamese student was stabbed in October 2004 in the city by a group of drunk teenagers.
"Extremism must not be present on Russia's political scene, otherwise we will not preserve the country's unity," Putin told the leadership of the United Russia party in November.
Despite the recent surge in extremist tendencies, the Russian president said on Tuesday that Russia has been "getting back to its feet," and that the country's ideology should encourage the revival of patriotism and national pride based on national unity and cultural diversity.
"Feelings of national pride and national identity have been revived in Russian people, and we should encourage these feelings," the president said.
The Russian leader called for greater support of the country's national culture and proposed greater financial assistance for cultural institutions in rural areas.
He said rural clubs are especially desperate for financial support, adding that there are more than 50,000 in the country, but that only 50% receive support.
"So far, the State's efforts to uphold the nation's heritage do not measure up to its importance for society," Vladimir Putin said. "We should revise federal programs Russia's Culture and Social Development of Rural Areas, and determine the mechanisms to increase co-financing of culture clubs."
Putin also said the government should give higher priority to the development of Russian language and culture, adding that 2007 will be "The Year of the Russian language."
He said Russian is the mother tongue of 288 million people throughout the world.
"Russian is a reliable guarantee of the successful development of humanitarian and economic relations with other countries, above all with CIS States," he said.
