Russian presidential candidates Mikhail Prokhorov and Vladimir Zhirinovsky disagreed over the country’s potential friends and enemies during election debates on Tuesday.
While Billionaire Prokhorov insisted on the need for Russia to further integrate with Europe, nationalist LDPR party leader Zhirinovsky pushed for closer ties with “our Slavic brothers” such as Belarus and Ukraine and warned against “enemies” such as Western powers, Japan and China.
“Three global centers are currently being shaped: the United States and Latin America; China, India and other Asian countries, and Russia with Europe,” Prokhorov said.
Neither Russia nor Europe will be able to meet competition “in the new world order;” therefore, “Europe is our strategic partner,” he concluded.
Russia and the European Union should drop visas and create a common economic space – “a powerful economic area,” he said.
As for Russia’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.
“This is the only right policy for our country,” he added.
Prokhorov said “undemocratic and unfriendly regimes where human rights are violated,” such as Iran and Syria, were Russia’s potential enemies.
“But we should always take Russia’s interests into consideration… Foreign policy is our development tool,” he added.
Zhirinovsky said the United States, its European allies, Turkey, Japan and China were Russia’s enemies because they wanted to “destroy our country.”
Among Russia’s friends he named Belarus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and “Korea.”
Zhirinovsky and Prokhorov will challenge powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the presidential vote scheduled for March 4.
