Surkov: 3 Threats

From today's RFE/RL Newsline:

PUTIN AIDE SEES 'COLOR REVOLUTIONS' AS THREAT TO RUSSIAN SOVEREIGNTY.

Vladislav Surkov, who is an aide to President Putin, told a recent meeting of the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party that three primary threats to Russian national sovereignty are "colored revolutions" like those in Ukraine and Georgia, international terrorism, and an inability to compete economically, RIA Novosti reported from Moscow on March 3. He argued that revolutions using modern "Orange methods" and involving a "soft takeover" take advantage of the local authorities' limited ability to respond and pose a "very real threat to sovereignty." The way to prevent more such "colored revolutions...[is to] form a nationally oriented leading stratum of society" in each country in question, he maintained. Surkov argued that Russia must develop its economic competitiveness, adding that "the idea of Russia as an energy superpower is...fully consistent with this approach." PM