The Russian White House has hosted a meeting of the Inter-Departmental Workgroup on Internaional Relations, chaired by the Vice Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitriy Kozak. Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Secretary General, Vice President of the Federal Jewish National Cultural Autonomy Michael Chlenov has also participated in this meeting.

Among the participants of the meeting were All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) Director General Oleg Dobrodeev, Deputy Director General of the Russian Informational Agency 'Novosti' Leonid Burmistrov, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy Department of Church and Society, archpresbyter Vsevolod Chaplin, ex-minsters involved in national policy Ramazan Abdulatipov and Vladimir Zorin, representatives of the Federation Council and the State Duma, leaders of national-cultural autonomies, journalists.

Two main questions were discussed at the meeting: “On the role of the media and culture in harmonizing inter-ethnic relations” and “On the structure participating in forming and implementing national policy.” Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation Victor Basargin made a speech in which he proposed to create the position of vice-agent on inter-ethnic relations of the President of the Russian Federation, and to create a presidential council on inter-ethnic relations. These propositions were generally well-received by the participants of the meeting.

As EAJC Secretary General Michael Chlenov noted in his speech, even though the proposition itself is acceptable, it is important not to destroy what has already been built while the new structure is being implemented. He noted that “The Department of International Relations of the Ministry of Regional Development has become rather experienced by now, and it is thus very important to preserve both the structure itself and the people working in it.” This approach was approved by other participants of the meeting.

Chlenov also stressed that the government bodies must act as partners to civil society not only while discussing various projects, but also in solving particular pressing questions. As an example, he cited the necessity to re-register national-cultural autonomies with the sole aim of adding “Non-governmental organization” to their official names. “We have worked for many years without this title, but suddenly it becomes so important that all organizations have to re-register within a scope of two months. This requires both funds and serious effort. What is the reason behind such a contentious step taken by our governmental bodies? This question must be examined jointly by representatives of the Interdepartmental Committee, Ministry of Justice, the public prosecutor's office, and other interested bodies,” the EAJC Secretary General stated. This proposition found support in Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.