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Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson

Russian PM says football fans not seeking political instability

Vladimir PutinMoscow, 29 December: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said that he does not see any forces in Russia that are capable of destabilizing the political situation.

"Who would be interested in it (instability)? I am not aware of such forces. I hope this will not happen," the prime minister told Russian journalists after being asked if he was afraid of attempts to destabilize the situation in Russia ahead of the (2012) presidential election.

Teeming Demonstrators with Flares Near Kremlin WallsPutin stressed that he did not regard the football fans who recently took to the streets following the killing of a Spartak (Moscow football club) fan as such a force. "First, football fans are not the opposition. Second, they are not all the same. Generally, people with an interest in sport are not interested in these types of things," he said.

The prime minister noted "the current tendency across Europe for radical elements to attach themselves to football fans, arrange them in a V-formation and use them as a battering ram".

Soccer Action"I hope that, although these people are young (fans - Interfax), they have brains, and so they understand that people want to use them," Putin said.

He added that "genuine fans have never allowed this to happen - they've always kept their distance from politics and not allowed themselves to be manipulated".

 

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Russia, Government, Politics - Russia, Extremism, Xenophobia - Russia, Sports, World Cup Soccer, Olympics, Sochi - Russia News - Russia - Johnson's Russia List

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