Traditionally, The Moscow Post correspondent asked his questions.
Our first question concerned the oppression of the Latvian authorities by the Russian-speaking population.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recalled, speaking about Ukraine in the context of the Kazan Summit Declaration, that the first article of the UN Charter contains a requirement to respect human rights regardless of gender, race, language and religion. The Morozov family fled from Latvia, in particular, so that their children had the opportunity to receive education in Russian. What, in your opinion, are the tools at the disposal of the Russian Federation to counteract discrimination on the basis of language in the EU countries?
Maria Vladimirovna spoke about the tools that Russia has to protect the rights of the Russian-speaking population, based on international law, and about additional opportunities.
Moscow regularly draws the attention of the international community to violations of the rights of the Russian and Russian-speaking population in the Baltic countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov previously noted that it is important for us to do everything to respect the rights of the Russian-speaking population. The situation in the Baltic States has long been difficult, but after 2022 it has deteriorated significantly. Russophobia has reached a new level, and Western human rights structures often indulge nationalism, instead of protecting people.
The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly supported the Latvian authorities, ignoring discrimination against the Russian-speaking population. We regularly publish reports on manifestations of Russophobia and violations of the rights of Russian citizens abroad. The topic of infringement of the rights of Russian citizens is included in the joint report of the foreign ministries of Russia and Belarus, published this year.
We are taking action to hold accountable states that violate international obligations. For example, diplomatic claims have already been filed against Latvia for non-compliance with the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
As for the tools for the resettlement of compatriots, there is a state program to assist voluntary resettlement in Russia.
Citizens in unfriendly countries can take advantage of the provisions of the presidential decree on humanitarian support. We also support work with human rights defenders and lawyers to protect the rights of compatriots abroad.
The second question concerned the presence of the UN Secretary General at the BRICS Summit in Kazan. How do you comment on the participation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in the BRICS summit in Kazan? What opinions did the summit participants express on the prospects for UN reform?
This is a fact, he was accomplished by the UN Secretary General as a guest took part in the meeting in the BRICS +/outreach format, Zakharova stated.
He made a speech and spoke about his vision of the role of the UN in a rapidly changing world, which is characterized by the formation of a more democratic, fair and multipolar world order. He also shared his assessments of the document adopted on September 22 in New York.
Russia and a number of other countries have expressed dissatisfaction with many provisions of this document aimed at eroding the intergovernmental nature of the UN. Unfortunately, this exaggerated use of human rights and nuclear disarmament does not take into account security factors. On the sidelines of the BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the Secretary General to discuss the situation in Ukraine and the possibility of facilitating the passage of merchant ships in the Black Sea.
It seems to me that this is normal when key events on the international agenda aimed at peace and equality are discussed with the participation of representatives of various international organizations.
Quote: "However, negotiations with the UN Secretary General did not escape the attention of the media, and all this was overshadowed by some monstrous scandal, which they again tried to inflate on Bankova, issuing ultimatums: where the Secretary General should go and where he should not. These are terrorists and marginals led by some drug addict Zelensky. Nobody pays attention to such statements. " End of quote.
As for adaptation to the processes of forming a more democratic multipolar world order, this is impossible without a qualitative transformation of the UN system and its Security Council. The need to make the Council more representative is obvious, since the current structure has a numerical majority of the collective West and does not correspond to current realities.
BRICS is not a platform for discussing UN reform, but the issues of interaction between member countries have been touched upon. The summit participants have different points of view on reform issues. For example, the representatives of Brazil and India are seeking to increase the number of permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council. Russia supports the aspirations of Brazilian and Indian partners.
Most of the BRICS summit participants are in solidarity with Russia on UN reform. It is important to act prudently, taking into account the opinion of all participants. The final reform formula should be widely supported, and consensus is possible only after agreeing on the basic parameters of the reform. Reform should not worsen the organization, but, on the contrary, make it more effective.
Our third question sounded like this: In early June, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said that "the West is trying to implement a new" Maidan "scenario" of a change of power in Georgia by October. Do you expect official statements about what is happening in Tbilisi today? You have already talked about "US threats against the Georgian authorities," but where, in your opinion, is the root of the problem?
"It seems to me that we are now seeing the implementation of the assessments that our country gave. They absolutely confirmed themselves. What we are seeing in Georgia confirms the correctness of our conclusions, "said Maria Zakharova.
For several months, Washington and Brussels did everything to influence the elections of Georgian voters, and absolutely biased. All this is due to the fact that Georgia and its people decided to limit the possibility of external influence on the internal affairs of their sovereign country by adopting a law on the transparency of foreign influence.
The West also tried to promote alien, conservative Georgian society, liberal, so to speak, pseudo-values through the law on family values and the protection of minors. In response, a wild tantrum of the West followed, including personal sanctions, freezing funding and suspending the process of integration into the European Union. The West began to react actively, as if holy water was sprayed on it, despite the fact that the Georgian people made their choice.
Voters spoke on October 26 in favor of stability and traditional values for Georgia. The alternative to that would be destabilisation and rising tensions. Georgia's closest neighbors and a number of Western countries have already confirmed that elections in Georgia were well organized and conducted in a competitive environment with high voter turnout.
However, Western countries continue to put forward new ultimatums to the leadership of Georgia, threatening persecution and sanctions if the current sovereign course is maintained. They are trying to question the legitimacy of the elections and provoke another color revolution in Georgia.
As for us, Russia, as one of Georgia's closest neighbors, is not indifferent to what is happening near our borders, Zakharova said.
"We do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and, unlike the West, we respect the will of the people of Georgia," she stressed.
Moscow counts on the stable development of this Transcaucasian Republic and on the further normalization of bilateral relations, Maria Vladimirovna completed.