Grigorii Karasin, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Federation for Science, Education and Culture of the Russian Federation, former Deputy Minister of Russian Foreign Affairs
Grigori Karasin was born on August 23, 1949, in Moscow. In 1971, he graduated the Institute of Oriental Languages from the Moscow State University, M. Lomonosov. He is working in the diplomatic field, since 1972. Karasin held diplomatic positions in the central apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and abroad (Senegal, Australia, United Kingdom). From October 2005 to September 2019 he was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (he held the same position from 1996 to 2000). In September 2019, he was dismissed and appointed as a member and then – first vice-chairman of the Committee of the Federation for Science, Education and Culture.
As a Deputy Minister, Grigorii Karasin oversaw bilateral relations with CIS countries and was responsible for working with the Russian diaspora abroad. The director of the International Institute of Political Expertise, Evgenii Minchenko named Karasin one of the basic figure in the field of Russian CIS policy.
In an interview for “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, Gregorii Karasin acknowledged that the Kremlin use “soft power” to achieve its goals.
In order to promote their interests in foreign countries, Americans use non-governmental structures and various funds. Does Russia use similar tools?
We don’t have exorbitant ambitions, such as the United States have or other Western partners. We strive to ensure that non-governmental organizations contribute organically to strengthening the positions of Russian culture, Russian language and building friendly relations with Russia. We don’t have secret agendas for regime change, “orange revolutions”, “Arab Spring” and other “projects”.
The humanitarian and cultural component of our foreign policy is constantly evolving – the Russian Center for Science and Culture is active, our NGOs are growing. If we break out of the crisis, we will be able to spend more, to make sure that more students from Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Central Asian countries are studying in our higher education institutions. For now, we are at a lower level compared to Western partners, and this is an important indicator.Existing funds, including public diplomacy funds, are doing an excellent job abroad but still not enough.
Grigorii Karasin said
Karasin spoke with a negative connotation about the resolution of the UN General Assembly on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Moldova. During the meeting with the Moldovan ambassador, Andrei Neguță, Karasin said that the resolution adopted at the initiative of Chisinau is “destructive” and “will block the atmosphere of Russian-Moldovan relations”.
By the way, the Russian TASS news agency, which reported about the conversation between the Russian Foreign Minister and the Moldovan ambassador, used a manipulative technique to mislead the public. According to the reports, the UN called for “the withdrawal of the Russian army from Transnistria, which is part of the peacekeeping force”. In fact, the document does not target the peacekeepers, but the Russian Troops Working Group, which “does not pursue any peacekeeping and has no legal mandate.”
Sputnik Moldova also resorted to a similar substitution of the concepts.
Earlier in 2017, in an interview for Russian newspaper Kommersant, Karasin said that he pleads against the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Transnistrian region of Moldova: “Those who are trying to promote ideas about the withdrawal of the Russian army have a very short historical memory. (…) The presence of the Russian army in the Transnistria continues to inspire the residents confidence for tomorrow “.
Relevant articles:
1. https://tass.ru/politika/5322156 –
2. https://www.rbc.ru/newspaper/2019/07/03/5d1a1dbc9a794767d94d57e3 –
3. https://tass.ru/obschestvo/6446470 –
4. http://www.rusmission.org/4/1/1405
5. https://ru.sputnik.md/politics/20170314/11629236/dodon-karasin-razgovor.html
