“Russia has amazing history of story-telling” – Disney CIS chief

­In an exclusive interview, chief of the Walt Disney Company in the CIS, Marina Zhigalova-Ozkan, talks to RT's Sophie Shevardnadze about the peculiarities of the Russian movies market. RT: More and more Russian films take part in international film festivals. Does this actually mean that movies are becoming a full-fledged business in Russia? Marina Zhigalova-Ozkan: Well, a few years ago Disney...

NATO is a past matter – Russian scholar

NATO has no future and today we have to re-think European security anew to switch to other forms of interaction between Russia and the EU, insists Viktor Kremyenuk, Deputy Director of the U.S. and Canada Institute. “We are trying to pave this way while NATO is dividing Europe and Russia for various reasons,” explains Viktor Kremyenuk. “It is unlikely [for Russia] to join NATO:...

“Russia is a completely new country” - diplomat

NATO’s new strategic concept should be free from such atavistic concepts as perceiving Russia as a possible threat, says Vladimir Voronkov, the head of the European Co-operation Department at Russian Foreign Ministry. “ These things are unacceptable for us and attempts to bring them into the new strategic concept will hardly help improve our relations with NATO,” he said....

“The entire firefighting system was fully engaged in combating fires”

Many Russians will remember the summer of 2010 as one afflicted by scorching heat, raging wildfires and choking smog. The country's Emergencies Minister told RT what lessons were learned from this bitter experience. RT: This summer, Russia faced great forest fires, and some are still raging. Why do you think it all happened on such a scale? Sergey Shoigu: The key reason for all this, of course,...

EU could form into never before seen political entity – academic

The final form of the EU could possibly become a new type of state that hasn’t existed yet, shared Professor of Political Science Waldemar Skrobacki from the University of Toronto. “The EU is a political force of significance. It is a little bit unusual because it does not have an army,” Skrobacki said. “It does not have all the usual requirements assigned to a state...

“G8 record speaks for itself” – G8 researcher

Look at the history of the G8 and you’ll see that there hasn’t been another organization that has been able to mobilize political will and dollars behind some signature pieces, says Ella Kokotsis from G8 Research Group.

“Accountability is key for G20” – researcher

The G20 group that represents two thirds of the world's population and 85% of its economy can be a very effective forum, but is yet to be as established as the G8. That is the view of Alan Alexandroff, the co-director of the G20 Research Group, which is a global network of scholars and professionals. He shared with RT his views on how efficient two forums are in dealing with the problems the...

“We are looking forward to recovery” – Latvian president

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers believes that the biggest task towards stabilization of the economy and Latvian financial system is complete, but the goal to recover and get back to growth has not been achieved yet. In 2014, Latvia will join the Eurozone as planned, and there are no obstacles that could possibly interfere, shared the president. “I do not like the division: young members...

“Modernization should change people’s minds” – presidential press secretary

Summing up Dmitry Medvedev’s first two years in office in an interview to RT, the Russian president’s press secretary, Natalia Timakova, said that modernization has been the key word to describe it. It means not only economic development but also the evolution of minds. And modernization is both an ongoing process and still a long-term goal. She also covered several political issues,...

“International co-operation against computer crimes is a worldwide issue”

Boris Miroshnikov, the Head of the Cyber Crimes Prevention Department, told RT that nowadays, computer criminals operating in Russia are rather well-educated and sophisticated. “Therefore, they understand that they would have to use complicated multi-action schemes in their crimes in order to confuse investigators and to cover up their tracks,” Miroshnikov said. “Unfortunately,...