Farid Mukhametshin takes part in Christmas Parliamentary Meetings at the Federation Council

Today Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin took part in the Plenary Session of the 4th Christmas Parliamentary meetings. The main theme of Christmas readings this year – “Tradition and innovation: culture, society, personality”.  The session was chaired by Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.

Christmas parliamentary meetings have become a good tradition as it is a special form of cooperation between Church, State and Society. These meetings provide an opportunity to openly exchange views and ideas on the issues that require joint work of state authorities, public institutions and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Opening the meeting, Valentina Matvienko noted that today our society aspires not only to gaining knowledge and material well-being, but also to preservation of its rich cultural and spiritual heritage.

Speaker of the Federation Council highlighted the importance of preservation and strengthening of cultural sovereignty of the Russian Federation. “We must continue our tradition of high culture. This is our competitive advantage”.

“The value of these meetings is very high. The Federation Council launched a good tradition which we, representatives of Russian regions, highly support. Participants of Christmas readings talked openly about the most sensitive issues for our country – ethnic relations and patriotism”, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan Farid Mukhametshin told in his interview to journalists.

Farid Mukhametshin reminded that Tatarstan is a multi-national and multi-ethnic republic with dominating Muslim population. Therefore, it is very important to build relationships within the Islamic Community, preserve the centuries-old traditions and resist the temptation of modernizing society, which can destroy centuries-old heritage of our ancestors.