VOA常速英语2008年-Medvedev Calls for Rule of Law in Russia

By Peter Fedynsky
Moscow
25 March 2008

In a long interview with Britain's Financial Times newspaper, Russia's President-elect Dmitri Medvedev shares his views about the country's economy, foreign policy and civil society.  VOA Moscow Correspondent Peter Fedynsky says the next Kremlin leader is also calling for people in and out of the Russian government to respect the rule of law.

Dmitry Medvedev told the Financial Times the challenge facing Russia is to translate its recent economic success into social programs, including housing, healthcare, and education.  

Mr. Medvedev notes that Russia has more gold and currency reserves than ever to protect itself against fluctuations¹ in global markets, though he acknowledges the country is not isolated² from their complexities³.

The president-elect says Russia must suppress the inflationary surge which developed in its economy late last year.  He says that surge resulted from the integration⁴ of Russia into the world economy, and represents a price of Russian membership in the club of global economic powers.

The next Kremlin leader says he considers the prospect⁵ of Georgian and Ukrainian membership in NATO to be extremely troublesome for European security, but is not opposed to referenda in those countries to decide the issue.

He says the U.S. proposal to build a missile defense⁶ shield in Central Europe could also upset what he calls a "fragile balance of forces and facilities" in Europe, but adds that Moscow will consider recent American proposals to allay⁷ Russian concerns.

On domestic issues, Mr. Medvedev acknowledged that Russians have a habit of violating the law, from ordinary people bribing⁸ police officers and buying pirated intellectual property to government officials who interfere⁹ in the decisions of court judges.  He notes that President Putin's decision to step aside is unprecedented¹⁰ for a Russian leader, but consistent with the constitution.

Mr. Medvedev says Mr. Putin's move means that Russia is at last developing a tradition of respecting all constitutional and other legal procedures.

Alexey Arbatov, a former member of parliament and a historian at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told VOA that Mr. Medvedev now has a chance to encourage the separation of powers to develop an independent Russian judiciary. 

Regarding press freedom, Arbatov agrees with Mr. Medvedev's claim that the Internet gives Russians free access to information.  But the analyst¹¹ says television, which reaches the greatest number of Russians, is controlled by the state.

Arbatov says all national TV channels remain under rather solid control of the executive branch.  Programs, hosts, and managers, are all controlled, he says, as are the decisions of who to invite or not to invite as guests.

Referring to the office he is about to assume, Dmitry Medvedev told the Financial Times that the Russian president carries the greatest responsibility for the country's state of affairs.  He adds that the job is not like a light that can be turned off with a switch.  

1 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。

2 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

3 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

4 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 allay   

v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等)

参考例句：

• The police tried to allay her fears but failed.警察力图减轻她的恐惧，但是没有收到什么效果。
• They are trying to allay public fears about the spread of the disease.他们正竭力减轻公众对这种疾病传播的恐惧。

8 bribing   

贿赂

参考例句：

• He tried to escape by bribing the guard. 他企图贿赂警卫而逃走。
• Always a new way of bribing unknown and maybe nonexistent forces. 总是用诸如此类的新方法来讨好那不知名的、甚或根本不存在的魔力。 来自英汉非文学 - 科幻

9 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

10 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。