3 vital issues of Putin's State of the Nation Address 2020

       In the mainstream Mass media there is an active discussion of Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly on January 15, 2020.       At the same time, proposed by Putin constitutional amendments  are, for some reason considered the main topic of his address and are accompanied by epithets such as unexpected, shocking, extraordinary, etc.

       In addition, the mass media are full of various speculations about real and hidden meaning of proposed reforms, what Putin has had in mind, would he remain in power or leave, etc.

       In this regard, I want to say that for me, as a citizen of Russian Federation and a former emigrant with 6 years of experience living abroad and returning to Russia in 2008, it is clear that constitutional changes are only one of the three vitally important, key issues that determine no less than the survival rate of Russia as a country and Russians as a nation. I am talking about demography, defense capability and constitution. 

To be precise: 
       1. Positive demography, that is, when the birth rate exceeds mortality and the country's population is growing steadily
       2. High defense capability, that is, when a country is able to protect itself from external aggression, and
       3. The constitution, which guarantees the country independence from external influences, when it becomes possible to choose your own development course (without looking at the United States, for example).

       Putin understands all that very well, and therefore the first point of his annual address was long-term family support (and when Putin says "family", he surely means traditional, straight family: man, woman and children):

"Russia’s future and historical perspective depend on how many of us there are (I would like to start the main part of my Address with demography), how many children are born in Russian families in one, five or ten years, on these children’s upbringing, on what kind of people they become and what they will do for the country, as well as on the values they choose as their mainstay in life."

       The Maternity Capital program, started in 2006, will be extended until December 31, 2026, and the total payments to families for the birth of the first and second child will be  616,617 Rubles. Plus to that, in case of a third child birth, the state will cover 450,000 Rubles of a family mortgage loan.

       In addition, a number of measures have been proposed in support of families in terms of providing medical care, school education and higher education.

       As for the defence capability, Putin said that "The country's defence capability is ensured for decades to come...". 
"For the first time ever – I want to emphasise this – for the first time in the history of nuclear missile weapons, including the Soviet period and modern times, we are not catching up with anyone, but, on the contrary, other leading states have yet to create the weapons that Russia already possesses."

       And, finally, out of all the proposed constitutional amendments, I consider the most important and paramount changes in article 15, which should set the priority of domestic, national legislation over international. This is exactly what should help Russia to relieve the burden of the colonial regime imposed on us since 1993 and finally get a real opportunity to choose our own development path free from influence of the USA, Great Britain and other countries.

       "Russia can be and can remain Russia only as a sovereign state."

       I am also very impressed with the second point of constitutional amendments, proposed by V.V. Putin:
"the heads of the constituent entities, members of the Federation Council, State Duma deputies, the prime minister and his/her deputies, federal ministers, heads of federal agencies and judges should have no foreign citizenship or residence permit or any other document that allows them to live permanently in a foreign state."

"The goal and mission of state service is to serve the people, and those who enter this path must know that by doing this they inseparably connect their lives with Russia and the Russian people without any assumptions and allowances."

       The presidential address surely contains a lot more facts and proposals, related to Russian economy, ecology, technology, science, innovations etc. (Please read the English original here . You may also check Russian original)

       In this article I just tried to draw your attention to the issues that struck me most and I would be very interested to know your opinion on that things.

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